Impacts of Environmental Degradation on Profitability of Cassava Production in Southeast, Nigeria

This paper examines the impacts of soil erosion on profitability of cassava production in Enugu State, Nigeria. The study specifically compared the costs and returns of the farmers operating on eroded and non-eroded farms and explicitly analyzed the factors influencing profitability of cassava farming enterprise using partial budgetary technique and regression analysis. A multistage sampling procedure was used to select 200 cassava farmers for the study. Primary data were collected on respondents’ age, sex, educational background, farm size, as well as on quantities and prices of inputs and outputs using pre-tested questionnaire. Partial budgetary analysis showed that farmers operating on eroded farms recorded lower crop yield resulting in a significant difference (p<0.05) between the average gross margin earned per hectare on non-eroded (N185, 553) and eroded (N152, 312) farms. Regression model estimates showed that farm size, labor, input-usage and access to extension services positively and significantly influenced profitability of cassava farming enterprise; whereas incidence of soil erosion and large household size have negative effects on profitability of cassava farming enterprise in the study area. Cassava farmers in the study area could substantially increase their profit if farmers have access to more land, credit to purchase farm inputs and extension services geared towards good agricultural practices and soil conservation methods. It is also pertinent for government to design and implement special schemes to control and mitigate the effect of soil erosion in order to forestall continuous degradation of arable lands. Keywords: Profitability; Budgetary technique; Multiple regression; Soil erosion; Cassava farmers