Determinants of factors affecting farmer’s participation in exchange labour in Olamaboro Local Government Area of Kogi State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study examined the determinants of exchange labour participation in Olamaboro Local Government Area of Kogi State, Nigeria. A purposive and simple random sampling of the respondents was used with descriptive statistics such as frequency distribution, tables, percentages, mean and probit models as tools of analysis. Data for the study was collected from primary sources through the use of a well-structured questionnaire to elicit information from the respondents. The results on socio-economic characteristics revealed that the mean age of participants in exchange labour was 34 years and mostly males (60.83%). Most were of active age, married and mean household size of 4 persons, they had one form of education or the other (89.17%). They were small-scale farmers with a mean farm size of 2 hectares and mean exchange labour farming experience of 6 years. Access to extension contact is low and the farmers have an annual farm income of N137,837.5. The results of the probit model analysis revealed that access to credit and marital status were the significant variables that influence the probability of participation in exchange labour. These have coefficients that were significant at 5 and 10% level of probability respectively. The study concludes that exchange labour could be a means of increasing the probability of labour through adequate credit. It was recommended that exchange labour group members should create awareness to rural farmers for more membership, government support in the form of credit to boost production and farm income is important.