Abstract
The study assessed the spread of farmers and participation in terms of input redemption and the determinants of farmers redeemed with agro-inputs under the electronic-wallet initiative of the Growth Enhancement Support Scheme of the On-going Agricultural Transformation Agenda. Secondary data covering the Nigerian nation, with states and zonal breakdowns were used for the study. Analytical tools included the use of descriptive analysis such as mean, percentages coefficient of variation and graphical analysis. Other non-parametric and parametric tools employed included the analysis of variance and multiple regression analysis. The study revealed that the northern parts of the country accounted for about 90% of the total number of farmers redeemed with agro-inputs under the scheme, with the north-west accounting for about 50% of this figure. The performance of local government participation was generally above par given the average performance of 81.47% across zones, with over 90% active LGA participation recorded in the south-south and south-west. The analysis of variance test showed that the zonal achievements in terms of agro-inputs redeemed were significantly different across the 6 zones within the country. Ironically, the coefficient of variation index revealed a higher stability in farmers redeemed in the south west zone with an index of 1.15, in-spite of the placement of the zone relative to the northern zones. Farmers turn-out and number of active local government areas were also observed to be significant determinants of farmers redeemed with agro-inputs at 1% and 10% respectively. The study recommended the need for enhanced political support for the scheme at the state and local government levels, effective farmer education and mobilization, enhanced supervision of agro-input dealers and redemption centers, effective alignment of all on-going food security projects with the scheme, while prioritizing the scheme for targeted budgetary allocation.Keywords: Agro-input redemption, Electronic-wallet, Growth Enhancement Support Scheme, Agricultural Transformation Agenda
Highlights
Nigeria is one of the lower medium economies in the world with a GDP of $510 billion dollars, following rebasing in 2014 and was among the few countries that witnessed growth in spite of the global economic downturn with a figure estimated at 7.3% in 2011 (Doreo Institute, 2013)
The specific objectives of the study were to: (i) describe the spread of beneficiaries in terms of participation and input redemption under the Growth Enhancement Support Scheme (GESS) across states and zones in Nigeria; (ii) ascertain the determinants of farmers redeemed with agro-inputs under the scheme; and (iii) discuss the challenges under the scheme and their implications for effective implementation of the on-going Agricultural Transformation Agenda
A cursory review of available data revealed that 3,907,445 farmers were registered for the 2012 wet season under the GESS out of which 1,677,248 (42.92%) turned out and 1,128,673 (28.89%) were redeemed
Summary
Nigeria is one of the lower medium economies in the world with a GDP of $510 billion dollars, following rebasing in 2014 and was among the few countries that witnessed growth in spite of the global economic downturn with a figure estimated at 7.3% in 2011 (Doreo Institute, 2013). Various levels of subsidies have been implemented on improved seeds; agrochemicals and tractor hire which ranged from 25 percent to 50 percent He noted that the implementation of these policies has not been effective, largely fraught with colossal leakages, corruption, with the subsidy not getting to the intended farmers. Levels of subsidy ranged between 25% and 85% at the federal and state levels, while it was noted that the reduction of import tariff on fertilizers from 10% in 1996 to 5% in 1997 and 0% in 2000 contributed to reduction in the rate of decline in fertilizer consumption. Fertilizer use fell from a peak of 1.2 million tons in 1992 to 56,708 tons in 1997 This prompted a reintroduction of federal fertilizer subsidy in 1999 at a level of 25% which was implemented until 2011. Evidence abound that a large majority of the subsidized product does not reach those it is intended for, or if it does it is either delayed to a point of being of little use, or it is available for sale to the target group at near commercial rates
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