Abstract
AbstractThis study was carried out to determine the welfare effects of improved maize technology in Buruku Local Government Area of Benue State, Nigeria. The study also examined the determinants of the adoption of improved maize technology. Structured questionnaires were used in collecting the primary data for the study. A multi-stage random technique was used in selecting 125 farm households for the study. The Logit and ordinary least square (OLS) models were used in analyzing the data. The OLS results show that adoption of improved maize varieties is positively and significantly related to household welfare and thus has contributed to moving farm households out of poverty. Other variables found to be statistically significant in explaining household welfare are education, household size, and landholding. The Logit results show that age, household size, off-farm income, and education were found to be significant in influencing farmers’ adoption decisions. Some robustness checks were performed with differ...
Highlights
Increased agriculture productivity is one of the strong options for stimulating economic growth, reducing poverty, and improving food security
Since the Logit result from the propensity score matching (PSM) technique produced exactly similar result as the benchmark Logit model in Table 2, we present here only the result for the Average Treatment Effect on the Treated (ATT) that measures the average difference between consumption expenditure per capita of households who adopted improved maize variety and those who did not adopt as well as the corresponding standard error and t-statistic (Table 6)
The Logit and ordinary least square (OLS) models were used in analyzing the data
Summary
Increased agriculture productivity is one of the strong options for stimulating economic growth, reducing poverty, and improving food security. Maize is grown in all parts of Nigeria and it forms part of the staple food in Nigeria. It contributes about 33% to the total household food consumption (Minot, 2010). Annual rainfall of between 500 and 750 mm is adequate for maize production, experiments (Fadama III project in Nigeria) have shown that a much lower annual rainfall can sustain its growth. According to the profile of Fadama III project in Nigeria, Benue State has an annual average rainfall which varies from 1,200 to 1,500 mm annually. Storage is done by shelling of grains and storing them in fumigating air tight containers, such as bins and earthen wares, sealing them up to prevent insect pests from entering and in bags after being treated with chemicals (Abimbola, Ademolo, & Udoh, 2000)
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