Obisesan Greener Journal of Agricultural Sciences Vol. 3 (2), pp.120-127, February 2013 ISSN: 2276-7770 Research Paper Manuscript Number:112712295 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15580/GJAS.2013.2.112712295 Credit Accessibility and Poverty among Smallholder Cassava Farming Households in South West, Nigeria A.A. Obisesan Postgraduate student in Agricultural Economics, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. Email: kemi_triumph @ yahoo. com, Tel: +2348076673676 Abstract: The role of credit in agricultural economy cannot be overemphasized. Its constraints hamper productivity and income of rural smallholder farmers. In this study, cross-sectional data from 150 smallholder cassava farming households were used to examine credit accessibility and poverty among cassava farmers in Ogun state, Nigeria. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, logistic regression model and the Foster, Greer and Thorbecke class of measures (FGT). Logistic regression model was used to examine factors influencing the farmers’ credit accessibility while the FGT class of measures were used to determine the incidence, depth and severity of poverty among cassava farmers. The results revealed that majority of the farmers had access to credit with co-operatives serving as the major source of credit to the households. The results of the logistic model showed the significant determinants of credit accessibility as gender, age, main occupation, participation in off-farm activities, membership of farmers’ association and crop yield. The FGT results revealed a high rate of poverty among the cassava farming households with 66.7% households being poor and the households with no credit access had higher poverty incidence. Keywords: credit, accessibility, poverty, cassava, smallholder, Southwest, Nigeria. Return to Content View [Full Article – PDF] [Full Article – HTML] [Full Article – EPUB] Reference: Agbor RA (2004). An Impact Assessment of Cameroon Gatsby Trust Micro-credit Scheme in the Mile Four District, Cameroon; Report of International Project Management for NGOs, Participants Learning, December, 2004, Sweden. Amaza PS (2000). Resource use efficiency in food crop production in Gombe state, Nigeria. Unpublished PhD thesis, Department of Agricultural Economics, University ofIbadan. Binswanger HP, Khandker SR and Rosenzweig M (1993). “How Infrastructures and Financial Institutions affect agricultural Output and Investments in India”, Journal of Development and Economics, 4((3):337-366. Boomgard JJ (1989). Taking Stock of A.I.D Micro- Enterprise Portfolios: Synthesis Report, Washington DC: Development Alternatives, Inc. and Robert R. Nathan Associates, Inc. Briquette (1999). Better practices in Agricultural lending, FAO publication. EFInA (Enhancing Financial Innovations and Access) (2008). Access to financial services in Nigeria: Key findings. <<http://www.efina.org.ng/Key_Findings.pdf>> FAOSTAT database (2005). Foundation for World Agricultural and Rural Life (FARM) Reviews (2006). “Working Group Micro-credit: Proposed Terms of Reference”. Foster J, Greer J and Thorbecke E (1984). A class of decomposable poverty measures. Econometrica 52: 761–766. International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) (2002). Assessment of Rural Poverty: Eastern and Southern Africa. IFAD, Rome, 122 p. Maddala GS (1983). Limited Department and qualitative Variables in Econometrics. Cambridge University Press. New York. National Bureau of Statistics (2011). Nigeria Poverty Profile 2010. Odoemenem IU and Obinne CPO (2010). Assessing the factors influencing the utilization of improved cereal crop production technologies by small scale farmers in Nigeria.<< http://www.indjst.org/archive/vol.3.issue.2/innocent- 17.pdf>> Omonona BT (2001). Poverty and its correlates among rural farming households in Kogi state, Nigeria. Unpublished PhD Thesis, Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Ibadan. Udoh EJ (2000). Land management and resource-use efficiency among farmers in South-Eastern Nigeria. Unpublished PhD thesis in the Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Ibadan. World Bank (2007). World development report 2008: Agriculture for development. The World Bank, Washington, DC.
