Constraints to Agricultural Productivity in South East Nigeria: Evidence from Small-Scale Farmers in Abakaliki Metropolis

Abstract

Being a key component of Ebonyi State economy, revenue from its agricultural sector has been on the decline. Literature search show that issues of constraints to agricultural productivity in the State have not been sufficiently classified. This study fills this gap by ascertaining the impact of economic, social and environmental factors on agricultural productivity in Abakaliki metropolis. Based on structural change theory, primary data were generated with the aid of a well-structured questionnaire. Simple random sampling technique was used to select 20 villages while purposive sampling technique was applied in selecting 10 farmers making it a total of 200 participants. Three null hypotheses were tested using F-test from analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Welch tests. We found that economic, social and environmental factors significantly constrained agricultural productivity in Abakaliki Metropolis. We also found evidences that high cost of mechanised farming relative to manual labour and inadequate capital; land constraint and low level of education of farmers; as well as problem of pest and diseases and climatic changes were, respectively, two major economic, socio-economic and environmental constraints to agricultural productivity. This study therefore recommends government intervention in the area of irrigation, drought-resistant technologies, and floods controls as necessary tools for climate change adaptation as well as improved farm tools, pest control, and access to farm lands.