Farm Households In Nigeria Research Articles

Soil management practice and smallholder agricultural productivity in Nigeria

This study investigates how various soil management practices can enhance soil fertility and pest control, ultimately increasing crop yields among farming households in Nigeria. Utilizing descriptive statistics, logit regression and propensity score matching on data from the 2019 Living Standard Measurement Study, the findings reveal that households using herbicides experience higher agricultural productivity. The use of pesticides and certified crops also positively influences productivity. Key determinants of soil technology access include cooperative membership and the age of household heads, both of which significantly affect access to herbicides, pesticides, organic fertilizers, and certified crops. Education plays a vital role, positively impacting the use of organic and inorganic fertilizers as well as certified crops. Additionally, larger farm sizes correlate with better access to these resources. Conversely, the gender of the household head negatively affects access to certified crops. The study emphasizes the importance of capacity building and knowledge transfer to encourage the adoption of effective soil technology practices among farmers, thereby enhancing agricultural productivity and addressing food security issues.

Contribution of Sweetpotato Production to Economic Empowerment of Farming Households in Niger-Delta Area of Nigeria

Many farming households in Nigeria are deprived, and poor, hence, the need for economic empowerment intervention. Sweetpotato production, due to its short cycle and low input requirement could be projected on a larger scale for farming households’ economic empowerment. However, data regarding ability of sweetpotato farming for farming households’ economic empowerment is scarce. Therefore, farming households’ sweetpotato production and economic empowerment in Nigeria’s Niger-Delta Area was investigated. 364 sweetpotato farming households were chosen through a five-stage sample process. Descriptive statistics, Pearson Product Moment Correlation, T-test, and multiple regression were used to analyze the data that interview schedule was used to collect. Most respondents were female and aged 42.7±11.9 years. Farm size; farming experience; and income from sweetpotato, other crops, and non-crop livelihood activities were 2.6±3.4 hectares; 17.2±12.4 years; and ₦1,327,723.0±1,639,414.0 yearly, ₦2,385,815.0±2,615,273.0 yearly, and ₦1,828,004.0±2,336,270.0 yearly, respectively. The sweetpotato production and economic empowerment were low and high amongst farming households, respectively. Age, farm size and income from sweet potato were significantly related to economic empowerment. The economic empowerment status of high and low sweetpotato producers differed significantly. Between farming households with low and high income from sweetpotato production, their economic empowerment status significantly differed. Farming households’ economic empowerment was mostly predicted by farming experience; and income from sweetpotato, and non-crop livelihood activities. Sweetpotato production influenced farming households' ability to prosper economically. Agricultural policies oriented towards improving economic empowerment should be promoted to emphasize increased sweetpotato production.

Effect of Bio-fortified Vitamin A Cassava on Poverty Status of Farming Households in Nigeria, Evidence from Oyo State.

ABSTRACT Profitable farming is a prime target of all farmers regardless of the scale of production adopted and the veritable opportunity to attain the threshold of bumper harvest is not unconnected with the adoption of new technology. Bio-fortified vitamin A cassava remains the best option for farmers to experience improvement in cassava performance in both the quality and quantity terms and they are encouraged to adopt it in order to improve their households’ welfare. The survey was launched to investigate the effect of bio-fortified vitamin A cassava on the poverty status of the farming households in Nigeria using Oyo State as a case study. A Multistage sampling technique was used to sample a total of 186 cassava farmers comprising 92 adopters and 94 non-adopters of bio-fortified vitamin A cassava variety using copies of well-structured questionnaires. Parametric tools used were descriptive statistics and probit regression for socioeconomic characteristics and adoption status analysis. The socioeconomic results showed that both the adopters and non-adopters were in the productive ages of 42 years and 59 years respectively. The majorities of farmers in the two categories were married and had formal education. Years of experience possessed by them were 11 years and 18 years while both groups were members of associations. Poverty classification result showed 41.3% of adopters being poor while 83.0% of non-adopters were poor. Marital status (2.1271<p=0.05), education (1.1510; p<0.1), seasonal income (0.0757; p=0.05) and poverty status (I.6019; p<0.1) had influence on the farmers’ adoption status while lack of credit was voted highest among the factors militating against adoption of bio-fortified vitamin A cassava. It is therefore recommended that stakeholders in the crop enterprise should make frantic efforts in providing credit and other basic inputs that will enhance improved vitamin A adoption.

Nexus between participation in nonfarm enterprises and poverty among rural farm households: evidence from Nigeria

PurposeDespite a reduction in poverty the global population in 2015, the incidence of poverty remains very high in Sub-Saharan African countries. Most of the countries in the region are agrarian, with most of their population residing in rural areas, and a majority of the poor in the region are found in Nigeria. This study examined the nexus between participation in nonfarm enterprises (NFEs) and poverty among rural farm households in Nigeria and across the six geopolitical zones.Design/methodology/approachThe Nigerian Living Standard Survey (NLSS) conducted in 2018–2019 by the National Bureau of Statistics was used. We made use of 13,440 farm households with useful information for the purpose of this study. The sample comprises 6,885 households that participated in NFEs and 6,555 nonparticipating households. The data were analyzed with Foster, Greer, and Thorbecke (FGT) (1984) metrics, probit, and fractional probit models at p = 0.05.FindingsThe incidence of poverty was lower among the participating households than in the nonparticipating households. Participation in NFEs had a mitigating effect on poverty. We also established that zonal differentials in poverty rates exist among households in all the analyses. Participation in NFEs was influenced by individual, household, and institutional factors and was also able to explain the depth of poverty among the respondents.Practical implicationsIt is suggested that poverty alleviation policies should be targeted at improving access to nonfarm economic activities by rural farm households residing in vulnerable geopolitical zones.Originality/valueThis study is the first attempt to profile household poverty based on the type of NFEs they are involved in. The study also provides an insight into the effect of the state of residence on zonal poverty models, which is expedient if the country must achieve Sustainable Development Goal 1 on the eradication of poverty everywhere.Peer reviewThe peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-06-2023-0493

Enhancing dietary diversity and food security through the adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices in Nigeria: a micro level evidence

AbstractThe paranoid belief that climate change will gradually reduce the ability of the world to meet the demand for food serves as the rationale for Nigerian smallholder farmers’ advocacy of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) techniques. The study investigates the effects of CSA practice on the food security status of rural farming households in Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling technique was employed in selecting 480 rural farming households across three selected states from Southwest, Nigeria. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Obtained results showed that 59.79% of the respondents were food insecure while severe and depth of food insecure among the farming households were 0.0711 and 0.1913 respectively. The result of the household dietary diversity score revealed the diverse consumption-ability of the respondents and the contributions of CSA practice in their farming system. This implies that households engaged in climate-smart farming are more likely to achieve higher levels of food consumption score, dietary diversity, and food security. The probit regression revealed that the food security status among rural farming households was significantly influenced by household heads’ gender, farm size, and contact with extension agents as well as adopted CSA practices such as crop diversification, agroforestry, and use of Fadama land for agricultural activities. This research concludes that CSA lowered the probability of food insecurity among rural farming households in Nigeria. Accordingly, the study suggests that the government and the key players should encourage the use of CSA practices in order to ensure agricultural sustainability and food security in agrarian communities by reducing the impact of climate change.

Improving food security of farming households in Nigeria: Does broiler outgrowers' program make any difference?

The purpose of this research was to examine the impact of outgrowers' programs on the food security of smallholder poultry farming households in Osun State. Using multi-stage sampling technique, a structured questionnaire was designed to collect information from beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries of outgrowers' programs in the study area. Descriptive statistics, food security index, and Heckman's selection model were used to analyze the data. The results revealed that outgrowers and non-outgrowers were on the average, 49 and 45 years old, with about 12 and 8 years of experience in poultry farming, respectively. The Poultry Farmers' Association was represented by 97% of outgrowers and 47% of non-outgrowers. There were four major broiler outgrowers' programs existing in the area. The Anchor-Borrower Outgrowers' program and Osun Broiler Outgrowers' program adopted a fixed contract model, whereas, the Dayntee Farm and GS Farm outgrowers' programs employed a semi-fixed contract model. The incidence of food insecurity was 18% for outgrowers and 35% for non-outgrowers, with food insecurity depth and severity being 0.025 and 0.033 for outgrowers and 0.134 and 0.52 for non-outgrowers, respectively. The study found a significant difference in outgrowers' perceptions of food insecurity as well as their coping strategies. The major perceived indicators of food insecurity were inadequate resource endowment (MD = 0.758, p<0.01) and consumption of low-cost food (MD = 0.0658, p<0.01). Food acquisition on credit (WMS = 1.700), meals adjustment (WMS = 1.425), and cooking methods' modification (WMS = 1.875) strategies were adopted to cope with food insecurity. Participation in the outgrowers' program was influenced by membership of Poultry Farmers' Association, credit access and flock sizes and the significant predictors of food security among the poultry farming households were outgrowers' participation, household size, gender, marital status and credit access. It was therefore inferred that outgrowers were considerably more food secure than the non-outgrowers, encouraging the need to scale up the program in the poultry industry. Introduction of flexible regulations and reproductive education would make the program more rewarding to the poultry farming households.

Factors Affecting Food Security among Households in Nigeria: The Role of Crop Diversity

Agriculture is central in order to achieve nutrition goals through the provision of food, energy and essential micronutrients for the physical and mental development of humans. Dietary diversity is a good indicator of human food security status. Using a dataset obtained from the World Bank’s Living Standards Measurement Study—Integrated Surveys on Agriculture (LSMS-ISA), this paper examines the linkages between crop diversity and food security (measured as dietary diversity) among farming households in Nigeria using ordinary least squares, Poisson regression, and instrumental variables (IV) Poisson regression to estimate the relationship. In addition, we investigate the determinants that lead to the consumption of each food groups considered for generating dietary diversity using a logit regression model. The results show that food expenditure, asset ownership and location of households are the key factors driving the types of food consumed by the households. Furthermore, increased food expenditure and access to credit were found to positively influence food security. The result established a positive and significant relationship between crop diversity and dietary diversity. Our findings call for more attention to diet diversity, as well as the need to harmonize the roles of rural income improvement, especially through non-farm livelihood diversification in tackling multiple nutritional deficiencies in Nigeria.

Analyses of Geospatial Variability Effect on Food Security Status of Cassava Producers in Nigeria, and its Determinants

Production, and consumption of Agricultural crops remains an important tool in cushioning the random effect of food insecurity, poverty and unemployment in households as these are prevalent in both urban and rural Nigerian households. In this regard, data collected by National Bureau of statistics on General Household Survey (GHS, wave 3) was used to profile the food security status in four Geopolitical Zones as they were representative of large samples for the study that comprised 1000 cassava - based farming households, while descriptive statistics, Foster, Greer, and Thorbecke (FGT), and logistic regression were utilised as analytical tools. The result shows that food insecurity incidence of the study area was 0.41 and although relatively higher (59%) of the households were food secure, a fair high proportion (41%) were food insecure in the study area. However, geospatial variation analyses across the zones showed that food insecurity incidence was at 0.66, 0.44, 0.43 and 0.34 for North-Central, South-West, South-South and South - East respectively, while it is canonically highest in the rural areas, relative to the urban areas, while Gender, age, years of schooling, crop consumed from own production, household size, marital status, per capita non-food expenditure, cost of meal taken away from home and regional, and locational factors are significant determinants of food security among the cassava-based farming households across the geopolitical zones in Nigeria. The study concluded that socioeconomic and geospatial variability significantly influence food security among cassava-based farming households in Nigeria, and further recommended useful policy options.

Gender analysis of land ownership influence on climate smart agriculture adoption among farming households in Nigeria

Gender analysis of land ownership influence on climate smart agriculture adoption among farming households in Nigeria

Food Insecurity and its Correlates: Empirical Evidence from Fish Farming Households in Nigeria

Over the years, the Nigerian government and partner agencies have implemented several interventions to unlock the untapped food security potential of aquaculture. However, there still exists a dearth of knowledge on the effect of these programmes on household food security, particularly among fish farming households in Nigeria. Therefore, this study engaged the Foster-Greer-Thorbecke model and the Probit model to examine the food insecurity incidence and the drivers of food security among the fish farming households in Nigeria. The study engaged secondary data of 1,587 fish farmers from the 2018/19 Nigeria Living Standard Survey panel data. The food insecurity estimates show that about 52.49% of fish farmers are food secure. The result further shows that most food insecure households are males, married, have fish farming as a primary occupation, reside in a rural area and are from the Northern part of the country with no formal education. Empirical evidence reveals that education, household size, access to phone, occupation, sector and location of the household head are the major determinants of food security. The study concludes that educating the fish farmers and upgrading the rural facilities will increase the probability of food security among the fish farming households in Nigeria.

Land tenure and property rights, and the impacts on adoption of climate-smart practices among smallholder farmers in selected agro-ecologies in Nigeria

This study investigates the effects of land tenure and property rights (LTPRs) on smallholder farmers’ adoption of climate-smart practices (CSPs) among cereal farming households in Nigeria. The data were collected from maize and rice farmers in a Nation-wide Farm Household Survey conducted across the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria. Data collected were analysed within the framework of Multivariate Probit to determine the factors that facilitate and/or impede the adoption of CSPs. The results showed that the adoption of CSPs considered in this study – agroforestry, zero/minimum tillage, farmyard manure, crop rotation and residue retention - were generally low. Empirical analysis showed that farmers with transfer right were more likely to adopt farmyard manure, crop rotation and residue retention while the likelihood of adopting agroforestry reduced with having transfer right. The coefficient of de jure secure increased the likelihood of adopting zero/minimum tillage while the coefficient of control right increased the likelihood of adopting agroforestry. Again, we found that the adoption of zero/minimum tillage reduced with control and transfer rights. The study also contributes to the existing literature on adoption by recognizing the interdependence between different climate-smart practices as well as jointly analyse the decision to adopt multiple CSPs. The study therefore, suggests that governments, in whom the responsibility for land use policy reform lies, review the existing framework to ensure a prompt, fair, and efficient land tenure system.

Exploring dietary diversity, nutritional status of adolescents among farm households in Nigeria: do higher commercialization levels translate to better nutrition?

PurposeThis study aims to explore dietary diversity (DD) and nutritional status of adolescents among rural farm households in Southwestern Nigeria. It analyses whether higher commercialization levels of farm households translate to better nutrition.Design/methodology/approachThis study was conducted in Ogun and Oyo States of Southwestern Nigeria, using primary data from 352 farm households with a total of 160 adolescent members. The individual version of dietary diversity score (DDS) of nine food groups was used to calculate adolescent DDS over a 24-h recall period. World Health Organization AnthroPlus software was used in analyzing adolescents’ anthropometric data (height-for-age z-score and body mass index-for-age z-score) while household crop commercialization index (CCI) was estimated for each farm household. Separate logit models were used to examine the drivers of adolescents’ DD and malnutrition.FindingsThe study findings indicated that 100% of the adolescents consumed starchy staples while 0%, 3.1% and 12.5% consumed organ meat, milk/milk products and eggs, respectively. Results revealed that 74.1% and 21.2% of boys were stunted and thin while the prevalence in adolescent girls was 50.7% and 9.3%, respectively. Prevalence of stunting was found to be very high (60%–83%) in all the four CCI levels’ households indicating that belonging to highly commercialized households (CCI 3–4) may not necessarily translate to better nutrition of adolescent members. Food expenditure (p < 0.01) and access to piped water (p < 0.01) negatively influenced adolescents’ stunting mainly because of lower expenditure on food items and lower percent of household having access to piped water, respectively, while education (p < 0.01) had positive effects on adolescents’ DD.Originality/valuePrevious studies have contributed to the body of knowledge concerning the link between agricultural commercialization and nutrition using under-five children of the households. However, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that investigated the influence of CCI on DDS and nutritional status of adolescent members of farm households in Nigeria. This study fills this existing knowledge gap in investigating adolescents’ DD and malnutrition among smallholder farm households.

Nutritional Outcomes of Farm Households in Nigeria: To What Extent does Farm Production Diversity influence Households' Diets?

Nutritional Outcomes of Farm Households in Nigeria: To What Extent does Farm Production Diversity influence Households' Diets?

DETERMINANTS OF POVERTY STATUS OF RURAL FARM HOUSEHOLDS IN NIGERIA

Over the years, poverty has continued to prevail in most countries predominantly in developing nations like Nigeria. The majority of those who live below the poverty line in Nigeria are rural farmers despite their contributions to agriculture. This study, therefore, examined the poverty status of rural farm households in Nigeria. The data used were obtained from the National Survey on Incentivizing the Adoption of Climate-Smart Cereal Production Practices in Nigeria: Socio-Cultural and Economic Diagnosis. The data collection was facilitated by the Economic Committee of the Regional Agricultural and Food Agency of the West African States (ECOWAS RAAF-PASANAO) and the French Development Agency (AFD). The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Foster Greer Thorbecke (FGT) poverty indicators, and binomial and multinomial logit regression models. The findings show a high incidence of poverty among farm households in rural areas. The results also showed that growing rice, farm size, household size, dependency ratio, age, and market travel costs are the major determinants with positive impacts on rural households' poverty. Credit, gender, year of schooling, Tropical Livestock Unit, access to power holding company of Nigeria (PHCN), and general hospital had a negative influence on poverty status. Poverty was observed to be more severe in the northern geo-political zones. Based on the above findings, it is proposed that adequate attention be paid to education due to the higher incidence of poverty among low-educated households. Agricultural financing policies aimed at rural farmers should be implemented to raise their living standards and thus, reduce poverty among rural farmers. Policies should take the peculiar features of each geo-political zone into consideration while implementing measures to reduce poverty.

Impact of Intensive Youth Participation in Agriculture on Rural Households’ Revenue: Evidence from Rice Farming Households in Nigeria

The youth unemployment situation is an essential component of the current agricultural policy agenda of the Federal Government of Nigeria. Deep-rooted debates on finding a lasting solution to this problem using agriculture have been targeted as one of the panaceas. Using data from 207 systematically selected rice-producing households, this study employed the Propensity Score Matching method (PSM) and the Inverse Probability Weighted Regression Adjustment method (IPWRA) to examine the effect of intensive youth participation in agriculture on productivity and household revenue in Nigeria. We found that the key factors influencing the decisions of youth to participate in agriculture intensively include the number of years of farming experience, access to credit, membership in social groups, income, and land access. The PSM results indicate that rice productivity could increase by 1088.78 kg/ha if youth decide to intensively participate in agriculture. The IPWRA results show a positive and significant impact of intensive youth participation in agriculture on productivity and revenue. Therefore, our results suggest that efforts by the government and stakeholders towards encouraging flexible accessibility to credit (low-interest and easy repayment) and land without collateral to young people could enhance their participation in intensive agriculture and could subsequently boost productivity and household revenue.

Rising Food Prices and Farming Households Food Insecurity during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Policy Implications from SouthWest Nigeria

The government’s lockdown and restriction measures on the COVID-19 pandemic adversely altered livelihoods, commodity/food prices as well as food security status in Nigeria, especially for rural farming households. A multistage sampling technique was used to collect data from 480 rural farming households across three selected states of the SouthWest geopolitical zone of Nigeria. This research entailed rapid evaluation of the determining factors of rising food expenditure, implications for food security as well as households’ coping strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic. A structured questionnaire was used to obtain data that were analyzed using the following descriptive and inferential statistics: double-logarithmic analysis, Foster–Greer–Thorbecke (FGT) and probit regression analysis. The results showed that 60% of respondents were married, mean years spent in school was 17, mean age was 49 years, household size was 7 people and monthly income less than $200. The FGT model results for head count ratio showed that 78% of households were food insecure. The depth of food insecurity and severity before COVID-19 were 18.4% and 9.9% respectively, and 27.1% and 13.0% during the pandemic. The double-logarithmic regression revealed that household income, size, age and occupation significantly influenced the household’s food expenditure. Probit regression showed that households’ income, size, amount spent on food, and the household’s head, gender and educational level influenced its food security status. The research concluded that food security was indeed influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic among rural farming households in Nigeria. Intervention policies are needed to promote and enable sustainable livelihoods to eradicate hunger and food insecurity due to high food prices and high household sizes in relation to their low average income to enable rural farming households to economically recover and have the capacity to sustain themselves against future shocks.

Economic analysis of snail production and its contribution to food security of farming households in Nigeria

Abstract The numerous resources in snail production have largely remained untapped in developing countries despite the increasing awareness of the many benefits and potentials embedded therein. This study was done to analyze the economics of snail production and to estimate its contribution to the food security of farming households in Oyo State, Nigeria. Primary data were obtained through the use of a structured questionnaire that was administered to the snail farmers. Based on the discovery of this work, the result shows that 39.2 % of the sampled farmers were within the active age bracket (41–50 years). 92.5 % of the farmers were males indicating men were actively involved. The majority of the farmers were literate with (83.3 %) having tertiary education. The mean farming experience was about 7 years with most of the farmers (47.5 %) having experience of 5–8 years. Most (86.7 %) of the respondents were married. The majority (40 %) engage in farming as an occupation primarily. The result showed that the returns to snail production were high (net profit ₦317.88/0.75 USD per jumbo-size snail). Every naira investment generated about ₦1.96/0.0046 USD. This demonstrated a high economic return of the snail farming business for boosting the revenue of the farming household. It was revealed that the cost of breeding stock, stocking density, and labour cost had a significant effect on revenue generated from snail production. Snail production was also not seen to have a significant contribution to the food security of farming households in the study area. The result further showed that the major constraints faced by snail farmers in the study area include lack of financial capacity for business expansion, unavailability of collaterals for loan acquisition to aid farm activities, and lack of inadequate extension visits among others. Hence, the study emphasizes the need for the government to invest heavily in snail production and encourage people to venture into snail farming business.

Gender analysis of land ownership influence on climate smart agriculture adoption among farming households in Nigeria

Gender analysis of land ownership influence on climate smart agriculture adoption among farming households in Nigeria

Impact of socio and demographic factors on multidimensional poverty profile of smallholder arable crop farmers – evidence from Nigeria

PurposeThis paper evaluates the impact of socio and demographic factors on the multidimensional poverty of smallholder arable crop farming households in Nigeria.Design/methodology/approachData were drawn from the second wave of the LSMS-Integrated Surveys on Agriculture General Household Survey Panel 2012/2013. The methods adopted in analysing the data were descriptive statistics, Alkire and Foster Method (AFM) and logit regression model.FindingsThe result shows that 84.34% of the households were headed by a male while 80.26% of the respondents were married with a mean household size of seven persons. The multidimensional poverty of arable crop farm households in Nigeria is 0.60, while the adjusted headcount ratio (MPI) is 0.27, with an average intensity of 0.45. We found that deprivation in the dimension of living standard accounted for 45.5% of the overall multidimensional poverty index (MPI). The result of the logistic regression indicates that household location, gender, household size and non-farm income are negatively correlated to poverty. The factors that increase poverty among households are the age of the household head and access to extension services.Originality/valueThe study presents an alternative means of assessing poverty among smallholder arable crop farming households in Nigeria. This study recommends that policymakers should focus more on improving the living standard of arable crop farming households to reduce poverty in rural areas. Similarly, concerted efforts should be made towards providing adequate health care and improved sanitation, supply of electricity and educational training that goes beyond primary education for farming household members.

Impact assessment of non-farm enterprises on poverty status of rural farming households in Nigeria

This study evaluates the impact of non-farm enterprises on the poverty status of rural farming households in Nigeria. The data were obtained from General Household Survey fielded by the National Bureau of Statistics in 2010/2011 and 2015/2016. However, only 1,619 matched observations were used for analyses, using Propensity Score Matching, Double Difference, Foster-Greer-Thorbecke poverty measures and Poverty Equivalent Growth Rates (PEGRs). The results show that 53.3% of participants lived below the poverty line (poor) in 2011, while in 2016, this proportion declined to 31.94%. The poverty incidence of female participants (0.5504) decreased by 53.68% while that of male participants (0.4112) decreased by 4.81%. If female participants had not participated in non-farm enterprises, their poverty would have been reduced by only 9.7% but due to participation, it was reduced by 53.68%. The Poverty Equivalent Growth Rates are higher for all the three FGT measures than the actual growth rates for all participants, males and females with females showing higher poverty reduction; which means that growth was propoor, although the poverty of the poor decreased more than that of the core poor. Also, after five years there is a decline in poverty incidences of participants across the six geopolitical zones and the decline was mostly felt in the North East (NE) followed by North Central (NC) while the least percentage decline was seen in North West (NW). Since participation in non-farm activities had a significant impact on the poverty of participants, the promotion of non-farm enterprises among poor farmers should be encouraged.