ABSTRACT

This study investigated the impact of cassava market participation on farmer's economic efficiency and poverty level in Maigana agricultural zone, Kaduna state, Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to collect primary data with the aid of a structured questionnaire from 150 cassava farmers from two major cassava producing Local Government Areas in Maigana agricultural zone, Kaduna State namely, Soba and Kudan. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Stochastic Frontier Functions (SFF), Foster-Greer-Thorbecke (FGT) poverty decomposition model, Kitchen Sink Tobit (KST) regression model and Propensity Score Matching (PSM) estimator. The results revealed that cassava farming was profitable in the study area with gross margin and net farm income of NGN 140, 943.35 and NGN 94, 297.47 respectively. Cassava farmers who participated in processed and fresh cassava market realized NGN 3.33 and NGN 1.98 by investing NGN 1per hectare respectively. The results further showed that the cassava farmers were economically inefficient and poor. The impact of cassava market participation on economic efficiency was insignificant. However, the findings revealed a positive and significant impact of cassava market participation on poverty level. Specifically, the results suggested that participation in cassava market raised farm household per capita income by an average of NGN 12, 163.83 which is about NGN 158, 129.79 annually for a household, thereby reducing their probability of falling below the poverty line. It was therefore recommended that government should make credit accessible to farmers through reduction of interest rates which will stimulate them to invest more in the production and marketing of cassava.