Agricultural Economics

EFFECT OF CREDIT UTILIZATION ON PROFITABILITY OF COMMERCIAL POULTRY PRODUCTION IN SOUTH-WESTERN, NIGERIA

2025-10-22T09:05:18Z

EFFECT OF CREDIT UTILIZATION ON PROFITABILITY OF COMMERCIAL POULTRY PRODUCTION IN SOUTH-WESTERN, NIGERIA OYEDIJI, Beatrice Poultry enterprise is capital intensive; hence, most commercial poultry farmers rely on credit facilities to sustain their businesses. Previous studies established that access to credit enabled farmers’ participation in commercial poultry production. However, information on how the use of credit affects profitability of commercial poultry production is scanty. Therefore, the effect of credit utilisation on the profitability of poultry production in Southwestern Nigeria was investigated. A four-stage sampling procedure was used. Ogun, Oyo and Ondo states were randomly selected; and three Local Government Areas (LGAs) in each state based on prevalence of commercial poultry entrepreneurs. Cluster sampling technique was used to select two communities where poultry enterprises huddled in the selected LGAs. Ten percent of the entire poultry farmers were selected to give a total of 250 respondents. Data were collected using interview schedule on respondents’ socio-economic and enterprise characteristics (age, education, occupation, type of enterprise and management practice), access to credit facilities, attitude towards use of credit and utilisation of credits, constraints to utilisation of credit and profitability of commercial poultry farming. The Benefit cost ratio was used to estimate profitability. Indices of credit accessibility (low: 0.00-4.37; high: 4.38-22.00), credit utilisation (low: 0.00-10.42; high: 10.43-19.00), attitude towards use of credit for poultry enterprise (unfavourable: 36.00-63.70; favourable: 63.80-84.00) and profitability (low; ₦3,818,278.29 - ₦12,550,288.00; high; ₦12,550,289.00-₦86,427,167.00) were generated. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Chi-square, Pearson product moment correlation and ANOVA at α0.05. Most respondents were male (74.8%). Age and years of formal education were 42.56±9.84 and 17±9.26 years, respectively. More than half (52.8%) engaged in poultry production as their primary occupation, 54.4% combined egg and meat production and 63.6% used battery cage system. Credit was mostly accessed from cooperative societies (=1.19) and family/friends (=1.07). Sixty two percent of respondents had favourable attitude towards the use of credit in their enterprises while access to credit facilities (78.60%) and credit utilization (67.2%) were low among them. High interest rates and high risk associated with poultry enterprise ranked highest as constraints to use of credit in poultry enterprise. The net profit from poultry production was ₦1,766,230.95±809,396.46 and profitability was high among 67.8% of the respondents. Size of enterprise (r=0.15), years of farming experience (r=0.29), access to credit facilities (r=0.14), number of employees (r=0.31) and credit utilisation (r=0.085) correlated significantly to profitability of commercial poultry enterprise. Farmers differed significantly in their profitability depending on their level of credit utilisation, type of poultry enterprise and location. Profitability was significantly higher among high credit users (₦16,849,577.83±44,267,049.48) than low credit users (₦6,740,704.90±20,671,384.92). Combined Meat and egg producers had higher profitability (₦18,576,837.38±44,106,264.29) than meat only (₦15,639,874.67±47,308,877.27) and egg only producers (₦8,002,758.70±29,298,672.40). Profitability was higher in Ogun (₦18,792,463.78±23,062,122.53) than Oyo (₦15,564,957.58±46,957,103.9915) and Ondo (₦10,177,560.11±53,875,752.40) states. Credit utilisation enhanced the profitability of commercial poultry enterprise in Southwestern Nigeria. Profitability was highest in Ogun state and among poultry farmers who combined egg and meat production in their enterprise.

EFFECTS OF MATERNAL HEALTH CARE UTILISATION ON CHILD IMMUNISATION AND MOTHER’S WELLBEING AMONG AGRICULTURAL HOUSEHOLDS IN RURAL NIGERIA

2024-04-19T15:51:54Z

EFFECTS OF MATERNAL HEALTH CARE UTILISATION ON CHILD IMMUNISATION AND MOTHER’S WELLBEING AMONG AGRICULTURAL HOUSEHOLDS IN RURAL NIGERIA AFOLABI, Mobolaji Victoria The health of a mother before, during and after pregnancy is essential for the wellbeing of the household, generally and that of the mother and child, specifically. Maternal Health Care Utilisation (MHCU) in rural Nigeria is low with high maternal mortality. It has also been established that MHCU is a veritable input that could improve child health outcomes through child immunisation. There is limited empirical evidence that link MHCU to child immunisation and mother’s wellbeing therefore, effect of MHCU on child immunisation and mother’s wellbeing among agricultural households investigated. Secondary data sourced from 2018 National Demographic Health Survey (for rural Nigeria) were utilised in this study. Information used included household characteristics (age, education of household heads, region and household size), child characteristics (age, birth order, sex and birth weight), mothers’ characteristics (occupation, age at first birth, education and media exposure). The level of MHCU was profiled across the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria and its variables were; delivery in health care facility, availability of skilled birth attendant and postnatal care. The MHCU was categorised into low (≤0.333), moderate (0.334-0.667) and high (0.668-1.00) levels among mothers while child immunisation status was categorised into unimmunised (not vaccinated), partially (uncompleted vaccination) and fully immunised. Wellbeing Index (WI) was categorised into low (≤0.333), moderate (0.334-0.667) and high (0.668-1.00) wellbeing levels. Data were analysed with descriptive statistics, multiple correspondence analysis, Fuzzy set analysis, Tobit regression model and extended ordered logit model at α0.05. The age of household heads, household size and age of mothers at first birth were 44.7±9.9 years, 8.3±3.6 persons and 18.5±3.8 years, respectively. Majority of mothers were uneducated (59.65%). Children were male (51.47%), with third or above birth order (90.66%) and not weighed at birth (84.05%). The mean MHCU was 0.54±0.23 among mothers. Mothers with moderate MHCU were (39.1%). More mothers in South West (24.16%) and North Central (17.1%) had low MHCU. Mother’s occupation (β = -0.0383), education (β = -0.0669), age at first birth (β = -0.0082), media exposure (β = -0.0347), sex of household head (β = -0.0394) and birth order (β = 0.0198) influenced MHCU. Children (55.85%) were unimmunised and were found in the North West and the North East zones. Mean WI of mothers was 0.424±0.167 and most mothers had moderate WI (74.77%). The MHCU (β=0.042) and husband’s education (β = 0.068) improved partially immunised status in children while husband’s education (β = 0.0247) and mothers fully employed into agriculture (β = 0.0107) improved child’s full immunisation status. Furthermore, MHCU (β = 0.0912), household size (β = 0.0105) and mothers fully employed in agriculture (β = 0.0060) improved moderate wellbeing status in mothers while household size ((β = 0.0003) and mothers fully employed in agriculture (β = 0.0016) improved mother’s high wellbeing status. Maternal health care utilisation improved child immunisation status and mother’s wellbeing among agricultural households in rural Nigeria.

RURAL LIVELIHOODS AND FOOD INSECURITY AMONG FARMING HOUSEHOLDS IN SOUTHWESTERN NIGERIA

2024-04-19T15:46:38Z

RURAL LIVELIHOODS AND FOOD INSECURITY AMONG FARMING HOUSEHOLDS IN SOUTHWESTERN NIGERIA YAQOOB, Abdul Majeed Rural livelihoods have been the subject of empirical analysis in development studies because they play important roles in mitigating Food Insecurity (FI). In Nigeria, the incidence of FI is higher among the rural populace, particularly the peasant farming households, than urban households. Previous studies have linked aggregate measure of rural livelihoods to FI with little attention to contributions of specific components to FI. Hence, the influence of rural livelihoods on FI status of farming households in Southwestern Nigeria was investigated. A five-stage sampling procedure was used. Osun and Ekiti States were purposively selected based on poverty incidence in Southwestern Nigeria. Iwo and Osogbo ADP zones were randomly selected from Osun, while Ikole and Ikere were selected from Ekiti. Eleven Local Government Areas were randomly selected from the two states. Forty six villages were randomly chosen proportionate to size, while 400 farming households were selected from the villages. Semi-structured questionnaire was used to obtain information on socioeconomic characteristics (age, Being Married-BM, Household Size-HS, Farming Experience-FE, education), livelihoods’ assets (Natural Asset-NA, Physical Asset-PA, Human Asset-HA, Financial Asset-FA and Social Asset-SA), income sources, food consumed and agro-ecological zones. Others included Dependency Ratio-DR, Access to National Grid-ANG and Access to Irrigation-AI. Households that pursued On-farm (ONF), On-farm with Off-farm (ONF-OF), On-farm with Non-farm (ONF-NF) and combined Onfarm, Off-farm and Non-farm (ONF-OF-NF) livelihoods were classified based on their income sources. Households were classified as Core Food-Insecure (CFI), Moderately FoodInsecure (MFI) and Non Food-Insecure (NFI) based on food consumed. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, principal component analysis, income portfolio analysis, multinomial logit model, food consumption scores and ordered probit model at 𝛼0.05 < Age of household heads was 51.9±11.4 years, while HS was 8±2.9 persons. Access to NA- 52.9%, PA-63.3%, HA-77.8% and SA-72.6% was high, while FA-37.3% was poorly endowed. On-farm (3.6%), ONF-OF (17.8%), ONF-NF (19.7%) and ONF-OF-NF (58.9%) were the choices of livelihoods pursued. The probability of specialising in ONF livelihood was reduced by DR (-0.0377). The probability of pursuing ONF-NF was increased by ANG (0.0744) and DR (0.0690), while BM (-0.0841) reduced it. Post Primary Education-PPE (- 0.2502) and DR (-0.0544) reduced the probability of pursuing ONF-OF-NF livelihood, while BM (0.1584) increased it. Households that were CFI, MFI and NFI were 4.38%, 35.89% and 59.73%, respectively. The probability of being NFI was increased by age (0.0115), BM (0.1073), HS (0.0166), PPE (0.1090), AI (0.1376), rain forest zone (0.1417), and FA (0.1630), while extension services (-0.0040) and ANG (-0.1620) reduced it. Extension services (0.0030), FE (0.0052), and ANG (0.1202) increased the probability of being MFI, while age (-0.0085), BM (-0.0706), PPE (-0.0809), HS (-0.0123), AI (-0.1020) and rainforest zone (-0.1051), reduced it. Extension services (0.0011), FE (0.0018), and ANG (0.0419) increased the probability of being CFI, while age (-0.0030), BM (-0.0277), PPE (-0.0282), HS (-0.0043), AI (-0.0356), rain-forest zone (-0.0366) and FA (-0.4210) reduced it. On-farm rural livelihood relative to combined on-farm with off-farm and non-farm, reduced food insecurity among farming households in Southwestern Nigeria.

AGRICULTURAL EMPLOYMENT AND POVERTY DYNAMICS AMONG RURAL HOUSEHOLDS IN NIGERIA

2024-04-19T15:41:28Z

AGRICULTURAL EMPLOYMENT AND POVERTY DYNAMICS AMONG RURAL HOUSEHOLDS IN NIGERIA OJO, Ayodeji Oluwole Arising from drudgery associated with traditional agriculture, infrastructure deficit and low farm output, rural households have been moving out of agriculture to escape poverty. Previous studies focused on agricultural labour participation and welfare in Nigeria with little emphasis on household transitions over time. Therefore, agricultural employment and poverty dynamics among households in rural Nigeria were investigated. Data from the General Household Survey Panel (2010/2011, 2012/2013, 2015/2016) collected in Nigeria were used. Information on Socioeconomic Characteristics-SC (age, sex, Marital Status-MS, education, Household Expenditure-HE, Household Size-HS, Asset Ownership-AO and Dependency Ratio-DR, Access to Credit-AC) and sector of employment were used. Others include Information and Communication Technology access-ICT, Market Distance-MD, Household Member Migration-HMM, Distance to Major Road-DMR, Zones (North East-NE, North West-NW, South South-SS, South West-SW and South East-SE). Households that were Continuously in Agriculture (CA), Moved Out of Agriculture (MOA), Moved into Agriculture (MA) and Never in Agriculture (NA) were grouped based on their primary employment. Households were classified as Chronically Poor (CP), Transitory Poor (TP), Transitorily Non-poor (TNP) and Never Poor (NP) based on the poverty situation over the periods. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Foster, Greer and Thorbecke weighted poverty measure, Markov chains, binary and multinomial probit regression models at ∝0.05. Age of household heads were 48.6±14.4, 51.0±14.5 and 53.8±14.2 years while HS was 6.0±3.0, 6.2±3.1 and 6.3±3.3 persons in 2010/2011, 2012/2013 and 2015/2016, respectively. The CP households accounted for 31.4 percent of the sample while those TNP, NP and TP were 15.8 percent, 35.7 percent and 17.1 percent, respectively. Households in NE (11.9 percent, 23.6 percent) and NW (19.9%, 29.1%) had more people moving out of agriculture between 2010/2011-2012/13 and 2012/2013- 2015/2016 periods, respectively. Households that were CA and CP, CA and TNP, CA and NP were 19.5%, 10.1% and 18.2%, respectively. Similarly, MOA and CP, NIA and NP accounted for 10.6% and 10.1%, respectively. The DMR (0.0042) increased the probability of being CA and CP while ICT (-0.1544) and HMM (-0.2975) reduced it. Probability of MOA and being CP increased with HMM (0.7572), NE (0.4481), while DMR (-0.0195) and AO (-0.1083) reduced it. Probability of being NA and NP was increased with education (0.2609), AO (0.0926) and SS (0.3295), while being male (- 0.8129), HS (-0.0604), being married (-0.1598) and HMM (-0.5774) reduced it. Dependency ratio (0.090), MD (0.076), being male (0.505), HS (0.113), AO (0.141), NW (0.418), SE (0.499) and AC (0.2953) increased the probability of being CA relative to NA, while HMM (-0.474), SS (-0.425), NE (-0.849), ICT (-0.355), and education (- 0.051) reduced it. Market distance (-0.041), DR(−0.024), education (-0.046), AO (- 0.195) and ACR (-0.095) reduced the probability of MOA relative to being NA, but was increased by being married (0.755), HS (0.109), NE (0.864), NW (0.387), ICT (0.444), and HMM (1.084), increased it. Rural households who stayed in agriculture were chronically poor compared to those households who moved to non-agriculture. Access to credit, education and infrastructure investments reduced poverty and enhanced agricultural employment decisions.