Poverty Analysis of Maize Farming Households in Oyo State, Nigeria

One of the problems cited as constraining the production of maize in Nigeria is stagnant production technology among Nigerian farming community, majority of who are small-scale producers. Thus, this study examined the poverty status as well as analysed the factors affecting poverty profile of maize farming households in Oyo State. Primary data were obtained from 180 maize farmers by multistage random sampling with the aid of well-structured questionnaire and interview schedule. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Foster-Greer Thorbecke index and probit regression model. The results of descriptive statistics revealed that 68.3% of maize farmers were male with majority (56.1%) between 41 and 60 years of age who were married (86.6%) with relatively large household members. The results also showed that 76.1% of them used their personal land either acquired by inheritance or bought and 79.9% had formal education. The results of FGT analysis showed that poverty incidence was 35.2%, poverty depth was 16.1% and poverty severity was 10.9%. Meanwhile, probit regression model results revealed that household size, farmer’s expenditure, age, gender, marital status and improved technology were the factors affecting the poverty profile of the maize farming households. The study therefore recommended that farmers in the study area could reduce their poverty depth by controlling the number of child births, increase revenue generated from maize farm and adoption of new/improved technology