Enterprise Choice Decisions in Urban Food Production in Nigeria

Abstract

Farm enterprises differ in resource requirements (quantity, quality and timing). Enterprise choice decisions are particularly important in urban farming because of the associated farmland constraints and expectations of abrupt urban expansion. Given its importance in combating food insecurity and generating employment for the urban poor, city planners must begin to take urban farming into consideration in developing city plans. Informed decisions can be meaningful only if the factors that drive urban farmers' enterprise choice decisions are empirically determined. This study identifies some of these factors in urban smallholder farming in Akwa Ibom state, Nigeria. The study was based on farm-level data from 160 randomly selected farmers across the six agricultural zones of the state, and analysed using the multinomial logit model. While marital status and household size were negatively and significantly related to the probability of the farmers choosing pepper over waterleaf, the choice of garden egg over waterleaf was positively related to marital status but negatively related to the sole cropping system. The farmers' level of formal education and farm size were positively and significantly related to the odds of their choosing cassava, maize, pepper or garden egg enterprise instead of waterleaf, perhaps because these other crops are more resource-intensive than waterleaf. Income was, however, negatively and significantly related to the farmers' choice of these other crops instead of waterleaf, perhaps also because, as their income improves, they begin to restrict their urban farming activities. It is hoped that these factors may help to guide city planners with respect to the location of urban settlements where agricultural land could be most useful.