Income diversification and poverty status among arable crop farmers in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study examined income diversification and poverty status among arable crop farmers in Shiroro Local Government area, Niger state, Nigeria. Sample size of 117 households was obtained through a multi-stage sampling technique. Tobit regression model was used to find the determinants of the degree of diversification measured by Simpson’s Index of Diversity (SID). The results showed that the level of diversification was low with SID of 0.307. The result revealed that the share of household income from farm sources accounted for 58.11% while non-farm income accounted for 41.89% of the total household income. Sex, age, years of schooling, household size, number of extension visits and household income were found to be statistically significant in determining income diversification of farmers in the study area. The result of the Foster-Greer-Thorbeck (FGT) model revealed that 50.43% of the respondents were poor, while 49.57% were non-poor, the depth of poverty was 0.67 and severity of poverty was 0.47. The study suggests the need for arable crop farmers to get involved in non-agricultural activities in order to earn more income and diversify income sources. Government and private sector need to support farming households to increase the gains made in participating in various diversification strategies through policy, provision of public goods, skill acquisition and training on modern farming to raise standard of living.