Socio-Economic Factors Influencing the Participation of the Marginalized and Vulnerable Farmers in the Ifad – Community Based Agriculture and Rural Development Programme in Katsina State, Nigeria

Abstract

The objective of the study was to evaluate the socio economic factors influencing the participation of the marginalized and vulnerable farmers in the IFAD – Community Based Agriculture and Rural Development Programme in Katsina State. Multistage sampling technique was used in selecting 432 respondents for this study. Primary data were collected using a structured questionnaire and data collected was based on 2002  and 2015 cropping seasons, the year for before was 2002 and after was 2015. The structured questionnaire was pre-tested before it was administered to the farmers that were sampled. The tools of analysis employed to analyze the data were descriptive statistics and probit model. It was identified that there were 29% unemployed youth among the participants, while there were 47% elderly among the non-participants of the IFAD-CBARDP. It was found that (32% and 31%) of the participants and non-participants respectively of the IFAD-CBARDP were within the age bracket of 31– 40 years while majority (97%) of both categories of farmers in the study area had some form of educational qualification. It was discovered that age, gender and household size were the significant factors that influence farmer’s participation in the IFAD-CBARDP at 1% and 5% levels of significance. It was concluded that the IFAD-CBARDP has achieved its goal of increasing the farm incomes of the participants in the period of study and has succeeded in targeting the marginalized and vulnerable participants in its farm technical efficiency.

Keywords: Socio economic, IFAD-CBARDP, farmers, katsina