Risk Aversion among Farmers of the National Program for Food Security in Imo State Southeast Nigeria

Abstract

The study examined the relationship between the socioeconomic variables and risk aversion coefficients of farmers of the national program for food security in Imo State. Purposive and simple random sampling techniques were used to select 76 respondents. Questionnaire and interview schedule were the instruments used to collect data. Descriptive statistics, risk aversion index and econometric tool were used to analyze data. The result which shows that the respondents have a mean age of 56 years, mean formal education of 10 years, mean household size of 9 persons, mean farm experience of 29 years and a male dominated farming enterprise is an indication of favourable socioeconomic features of the farmers. Majority of the farmers were risk averters as they had negative risk coefficients. Farm size, number of contact with extension agents, amount of available capital, and amount of farm income were found to influence the risk coefficient of the farmers in the state. Since farmers attitude to risk have been identified as major determinants of the rate of participation in new technologies among the farmers and of the outcome of agricultural development programs, risk attitude of rural farmers should be considered in intervention policies aimed at ensuring the success of rural development programs.

Keywords: farmers, risk, aversion, attitude, coefficients, food security, program.