The Effect of Agricultural Policies on Farm Production in Benue Division, North Region of Cameroon.

Abstract

The main objective of this study is to determine the effect of government agricultural policies on farm production in the Benue division in the Northern region of Cameroon. Data was collected from 399 respondents using a self-administered questionnaire through a stratified sampling technique of 12 sub-divisions in the Benue division. We adopted a binary logistic regression estimation technique to estimate the model. The empirical results of the binary logistic model for the overall sample revealed that Government extension and advisory services (GEAS) have a positive effect on farm production. Specifically, increasing GEAS in the Benue division will lead to a 0.09419 increase in farm production and it is significant at a 5% level of significant. Government agricultural infrastructure (GAIF), a unit increase in GAIF, will lead to a 0.3790 increase in farm production in the Benue division and it is significant at a 10% level of significance. The last significant government agricultural policy on farm production is the government agricultural financial policy (GAFP). The result revealed that an increase or improvement of GAFP in the Benue division, will increase farm production by 0.3366 and it is significant at a 5% level of significant. Meanwhile, government agricultural climate policy has an insignificant effect on farm production. In this light, there is a need for the government to train and deploy more extension workers in the various sub-divisions and communities in Benue division, to increase farmers’ access to these services. This can be done by giving specific skills on how to produce dominant food crops and livestock in the Benue division through workshops and seminars.