Socio Economic Determinants of Poverty Status Among Ginger Farmers in Southern Kaduna, Nigeria

C C Ezeh ,Df Omokore ,O H Ezeh

doi:10.7176/jesd/10-8-02

Abstract

Poverty in Nigeria is pervasive, endemic and is predominantly so in the rural areas where majority of the households are farmers. This study was conducted in the Southern parts of Kaduna State covering three Local Government Areas (LGAs); Kachia, jaba and Kagarko, to determine the factors that influence poverty and its intensity among ginger farmers. Multi stage sampling procedure was used to select the 3 LGAs, 9 wards and 440 respondents. Data were generated using a structured questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. The results showed that over 56% of the respondents fell below the poverty line of N684 (US$ 1.90) per day. The results also revealed that the poverty gap index was 41.71% while the poverty severity index was 29.40%. Major factors that significantly determined the poverty status of the respondents were level of education, farm income and dependency ratio, while only farm income and dependency ratio significantly (P<0.01) influenced the intensity of poverty. Inadequate capital, poor pricing of produce and delays in the supply of inputs and credit were among major constraint identified. Recommendations were proffered to include the formation and membership of cooperative and farmers groups. Key words: Determinants poverty status ginger farmers. DOI : 10.7176/JESD/10-8-02 Publication date : April 30 th 2019

Highlights

In the last two decades, poverty has become an important topic for discussion among world leaders, both of poor and rich countries
The mean age of the sample was 32.2 years indicating that majority of the farmers were within the active and productive age which invariably ensures high productivity. This agrees with the findings of Usman et al (2016) who reported that 80% of the respondents were within the active age of 26-50 years in their study of crop farmers in Nigeria
The results showed that three of the six exploratory variables regressed in the model were statistically significant, viz, the educational level of household head, the dependency ratio and farm income

Summary

Introduction

In the last two decades, poverty has become an important topic for discussion among world leaders, both of poor and rich countries. Not surprising, this is because poverty has assumed a very visible part of human society affecting nations, regions and individuals. Poverty is a negative analogue of human development. It has many faces, changing from place to place and across time, and has been described in many ways. In its most general sense, poverty is the lack of basic necessities; food, shelter, medical care and safety which are generally thought necessary based on shared values of human dignity (Bradshaw, 2005). According to Suharko (2007), the poor struggle daily for survival; they suffer from lack of nutrition, health water and sanitation and other basic needs of life

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