EFFECT OF INTERNATIONAL FUND FOR AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT VALUE CHAIN DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME ON POVERTY STATUS OF SMALL-SCALE RICE FARMERS IN NIGER STATE OF NIGERIA

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study determined the effect of International Fund for Agricultural Development-Value Chain Development Programme (IFAD-VCDP) on poverty status of small scale rice farmers in Niger State. Multistage random sampling technique was used to sample respondents from 18 villages and 36 farmers’ cooperative groups made up of 110 participants, 90 spill-over and 95 control groups. The data was analyses using descriptive statistics and Foster Greer and Thorbeck (FGT) model. The result showed the poverty line of N455,546.36, N351,802.00 and N398,913.90 for participants, non-participants and pool rice farmers respectively. The poverty gaps were 8.69 percent, 25.02 percent and 24.65 percent for participants non-participant and pool rice farmers in the study area respectively while severity index was 1.53 percent for participants, 8.71 percent for non-participants and 9.18 percent for pooled rice farmers. It was therefore recommended that government at all levels should not default in payment of counterpart contribution so as to ensure sustainability of the programme.