Effect of Socio-economic Characteristics on the Farm Productivity Performance of Yam Farmers in Nigeria

Abstract

The study assessed the effect of socio-economic characteristics on the performance of farmers in production of yam in Nigeria. The study was carried out in Benue State, Nigeria. A multi-stage random sampling technique was employed with the aid of a well structured questionnaire in collecting data from 120 farmers. Descriptive statistics as well as Production function analysis was employed to estimate the parameters of the regression model. Findings showed that 80 percent of the sampled farmers were within their economic active working age. It was also revealed that 84.2 percent were men while 15.8 percent of them were women. Moreover, the analysis of production function indicated that the main determinants of yam production performance in the study area were age, educational level, farming experience, farm distance and income level of the farmers which had positive coefficients as well as statistically significant. However, households size had a negative coefficient though not statistically significant, this negate the a priori expectation. Some recommendations were therefore made as to improve the performances of yam farmers as well as on food security in the country.

Key words: Socio-economic characteristics, production, efficiency, yam farmers.