Determinants of Income Diversification among Arable Crop Farmers in Osun State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study examined determinants of income diversification among arable crop farmers in Osun state, Nigeria. A total of 120 arable crop farmers were proportionately selected from the three agricultural zones in the state, to constitute the study sample. Well-structured interview schedule was used to elicit relevant information from sampled respondents. Descriptive statistics, diversity index and Tobit regression model were employed to analyze data collected. Findings revealed the mean age of respondents as 41.50 years, most (80.0%) were male and married with the years of formal education and farming experience averaging 12.5 and 19 years, respectively. Majority (75.0%) of the respondents belonged to cooperative societies. Almost all (93.3%) of the sampled respondents derived bulk of their income from arable crop farming but are engaged in some other farm and non-farm activities while more than half (53.3%) enjoyed remittances. Majority of the farmers had access to farm credit and mean diversity index was 0.46. Factors influencing income diversification among respondents were age (t=-2.68, p<0.01), credit (t=2.29, p<0.05), household size (t=8.24, p<0.01) and frequency of extension visits (t=2.24, p<0.05). Only 6.67% of the farmers had income diversity index of 0 meaning that most of the respondents adopted multiple income generating-activities while crop farming remained their dominant income source. In the face of climate change and its attendant risks including total crop failure, farmers should be exposed to other viable farm and off-farm income generating activities while they are provided with pocket friendly credit facilities to harness such opportunities. Keywords Income diversification, Arable crop farmers, Income generating activities