Small-scale Farming, Agricultural Productivity and Poverty Reduction in Nigeria: The Enabling Role of Agricultural Technology Adoption

Abstract

Existing literature affirms the importance of agricultural technology adoption on productivity, income and livelihood outcomes. Evidences subsist on the adoption of improved cassava varieties (ICVs) in Nigeria but little is known about its impact among the farmers. We used data from a survey conducted by International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) to explore this research gap. Propensity Score Matching and Heckman’s two-stage model were the analytical tools. Given an estimated poverty line of (₦21717.53); 52.0% of the farmers were poor. We found that 75.6% of the respondents are adopters of ICVs. Primary occupation of household head and total non-production asset of farmers were key determinants for adoption. Adoption of improved cassava variety has positive effect on farmers’ productivity and poverty reduction. The Average Treatment Effect on the Treated (ATT) for productivity increased by 70 percent among ICVs farmers. Income was also higher among the adopters than the non- adopters by ₦43463.77. In the same vein, the income of the adopters increased by 17%. Furthermore, adopters of ICVs have the probability of reducing poverty headcount by 20%. The empirical results suggest that improved agricultural innovation adoption can play a key role in strengthening and impacting agricultural productivity of smallholder farmers for increased income generation and food security.