Assessment of ifad/fgn poverty reduction programme among farm households in Ondo State of Nigeria
Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, Federal University,Oye-Ekiti, Nigeria (1)
Department of Agricultural Economics and Farm Management, University of Ilorin, Nigeria (2,4)
Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomosho, Nigeria (3)
Household poverty, especially among the farm families which are the highest population in Nigeria is still a major issue of discourse among policy makers and analysts. This study assesses the International Fund for Agricultural Development and the Federal Government of Nigeria (IFAD/FGN) poverty reduction programme among farm households in Ondo State, Nigeria. The study employed a multi-stage sampling procedure. A total of 60 beneficiaries and 60 non-beneficiaries were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. Data were analyzed using a combination of descriptive statistics and Foster, Greer and Thorbecke poverty measure. The study shows that poverty incidence, depth and severity among the respondents were lower among IFAD/FGN beneficiaries than among the non-beneficiaries. Poverty incidence for beneficiaries was (0.66) against (0.79) for non-beneficiaries. This implies that about 66% and 79% of beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries were poor respectively. The poverty depth was (0.16) for beneficiaries compared to (0.24) for non-beneficiaries. The severity of poverty was mild among the beneficiaries (0.017) while it was severe among the non-beneficiaries (0.072). However, the study showed that the poverty measures (incidence, depth and severity) of beneficiaries were lower compared with non-beneficiaries. Poverty related indices were still noticeable among the beneficiaries with poverty incidence of 66%, depth of 10% and severity of 1.7%. This implies that only 34% of the beneficiaries could be said to be non-poor compared with about 20% of the non-beneficiaries. This study recommends that IFAD/FGN project effort should be intensified at reducing poverty rates in the study areas using other measures such as income diversification and establishment of small scale agro-industries. More funds should also be made available for such programme and the programme should be extended to other states and rural areas of the country.