Omobowale A. Oni

Non-farm activity and production efficiency of farm households in Egbeda Local Government Area, Oyo State.

This study analyzes the production efficiency of farm households exhibiting significant non-farm earnings in Egbeda Local Government Area of Oyo State. The data for the study were collected from 120 farm households selected through multistage random sampling. Data envelope analysis (DEA), which reveals production inefficiencies, was used to estimate the production efficiency of the farm households (DMUs) via the input-output bundle of each farm household (technical efficiency and scale efficiency) and the output price information (allocative efficiency). A follow-up, censored regression (tobit model) analysis was carried out to determine factors affecting production efficiency indices and discern possible sources of inefficiency. The study revealed that majority of the household heads (farmers) were relatively old, had formal education, and had relatively large household size (7–9). Their farm size and farming income was, however, relatively small. Participation in non-farm activities was active, with a large proportion engaged in regular employment. About 22.1 percent of the farm households involved in non-farm activities invested their non-farm earnings into agriculture. The DEA revealed that the mean technical, allocative, and scale efficiencies for the total sample population were 0.5802, 0.5960 and 0.9250, respectively. The tobit analysis revealed the existence of dependency ratio, high ratio of female adults to male adults, high proportion of total household income coming from non-farm earning, male-headed household, access to credit facilities, and founding family status, had positive impact on production efficiency whereas tenure insecurity contributed to inefficiency in farm household production.

Analysis of rural households’ wellbeing in Nigeria: a capability approach

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to use the capability approach to analyse the wellbeing of rural households in Nigeria and determine the factors that influence the wellbeing status reported. Design/methodology/approach – The paper analyses multidimensional wellbeing of the households in the capability space using data in seven dimensions obtained from the Nigeria Core Welfare Indices Survey of 2006. The wellbeing status of households was derived using the fuzzy set approach, while a logistic regression was used to isolate the factors that determine wellbeing. Findings – The results of the fuzzy set analysis showed that overall rural households in Nigeria have a low mean wellbeing status at 0.27. Capability to attain a desired state of wellbeing is highest with respect to asset ownership and lowest with respect to security. The logistic analysis shows that the predicted probability of attaining the mean capability wellbeing increases for male headed households, increasing educational level and age o...

Effects of Social Capital on Well-Being of Rural Households in Southwest Nigeria

The study examined the effects of social capital on well-being of rural households in Southwest Nigeria. The primary data employed in the study were obtained from 439 respondents selected through a multistage sampling technique. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, fuzzy set and ordered probit model. The results showed that well-being is low in the study area with an aggregate functioning index of 0.4375. The result of the ordered probit revealed that meeting attendance and cash contribution are negatively related to well-being while density of membership index, heterogeneity index and social capital aggregate are all positively correlated with achieved wellbeing. The study therefore recommends that investment in social capital by government and donors should be an important consideration in promoting the living conditions of rural households.

Simulating the Impact of Exogenous Food Price Shock on Agriculture and the Poor in Nigeria: Results from a Computable General Equilibrium Model

Motivated by the recent global economic crisis, this paper simulated the impact of a rise in the price of imported food on agriculture and household poverty in Nigeria using a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model and the Foster, Greer and Thorbecke (FGT) class of decomposable poverty measures on the 2006 social accounting matrix (SAM) of Nigeria and the updated 2004 Nigeria Living Standards Survey (NLSS) data. Results show that a rise in import price of food increased domestic output of food, but reduced the domestic supply of other agricultural commodities as well as food and other agricultural composites. Furthermore, a rise in the import price of food increased poverty nationally and among all household groups, with rural-north households being the least affected by the shock, while their rural-south counterparts were the most affected. A major policy implication drawn from this paper is that high import prices in import competing sectors like agriculture tend to favour the sector but exacerbate poverty in households. Thus, efforts geared at addressing the impact of this shock should strive to balance welfare and efficiency issues.