Agricultural Economics with the registration number PG/M.Sc/12/61618 has satisfactorily ... into modern economy in Nigeria, farmers' diversification phenomena has arisen and developed and will ...... 23/04/13 from https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/2007/wp07169.pdf. Haugh, R. .... Koutsoyiannis, A. (2003). Theory of ...
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ON-FARM INCOME DIVERSIFICATION DECISIONS OF RURAL FARM HOUSEHOLDS IN ENUGU STATE, NIGERIA
BY OSUAFOR, OGONNA OLIVE PG/M.Sc/12/61618
A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF MASTER OF SCIENCE (M.Sc.) DEGREE IN THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKKA
NOVEMBER, 2015
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CERTIFICATION PAGE
Osuafor, Ogonna Olive, a postgraduate student in the Department of Agricultural Economics with the registration number PG/M.Sc/12/61618 has satisfactorily completed the requirements for the award of degree of Master of Science (M.Sc.) in Agricultural Economics. The work embodied in this dissertation is original and has not been submitted in part of full for any other degree in the University or any other institution.
........................................... Osuafor, Ogonna Olive (Student)
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Prof. E.C. Okorji (Supervisor)
Prof. S.A.N.D. Chidebelu (Head of Department)
Date
Date
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DEDICATION
This work is dedicated to all rural farm households in Nigeria.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to express my gratitude to my thesis Supervisor, Prof. E.C. Okorji, whose assessment, critical appraisal and encouragement helped me throughout the duration of this research work. Sincere appreciation to the Head of Department, Prof. S.A.N.D. Chidebelu, my external examiner, Prof. C.C. Eze and my internal examiner, Dr F.U. Agbo for their thorough scrutiny of my work. Genuine gratitude to my inimitable lecturers, Prof. E.O. Arua, Prof. E.C. Eboh, Prof. N.J. Nweze, Prof C.J. Arene, Prof. C.U. Okoye, Prof. Mrs A.I. Achike, Dr A.A. Enete, Dr N.A. Chukwuone, Dr B.C. Okpukpara and Dr Ms E.C. Amaechina for their immeasurable efforts to mould me worthy in character and in learning throughout my study in the university. My unalloyed appreciation goes to my fathers in the Lord, Revd Canon Paul O. Umeokoli, Revd Canon Onu and Revd Obinna C. Mmaduabuchi for their prayers. My reflective gratitude goes to my late father, Dr T.O.K. Osuafor, whose flare for academics greatly inspired me. I am greatly indebted to my mother, Dr Mrs A.M. Osuafor, who made corrections in my research and encouraged me to consult numerous journals. I wish to thank my sisters, brothers and in-laws for their support and encouragement. I want to appreciate my colleagues, Mr Sunday S. Okpala, Mr Samuel T. Elijah and Mr O.B. Attamah for their assistance during the period of data collection and analysis. I say thank you to my course mates for their encouragement. I thank all the rural farmers who made out time to fill the questionnaire used for the study. May God continue to shower His blessings on you all.
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I give unending thanks to Almighty God for His grace upon me to conquer the challenges I faced in this research.
ABSTRACT There has been a drive on the part of consumers, producers, researchers and policy makers for a transition toward a new phase of agriculture. Within this vision, diversifying income among farm households is critical to this drive. In the process of traditional economy transforming into modern economy in Nigeria, farmers’ diversification phenomena has arisen and developed and will continue a long time in the future. Income instability has been a major challenge to the rural farming households and this has adversely affected agricultural productivity.
This necessitated the study on on-farm income diversification decisions of rural farm households in Enugu State, Nigeria. The study adopted the survey research design. Five objectives and one hypothesis guided the study. The sample of the study comprised 240 respondents from three agricultural zones sampled through multi-stage random sampling technique. Researcher-developed questionnaire was the instrument used for data collection and the instrument was validated by three experts in agriculture. Cronbach’s alpha method was used to determine the internal consistency of the items and the result yielded a coefficient of 0.78 and was therefore reliable. The researcher with the help of three research assistants distributed the questionnaire which were used for data analysis. Data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics: statistical mean, multinomial logit model, participation index, exploratory factor analysis and chi-square test. The study found that women (62.13%) dominated the rural farm household heads. Forty-two percent of the household heads were within the highly productive age range of 41-50 years. Twenty percent of the household heads attended primary school while 26% and 45% attended secondary and tertiary institutions respectively. Farming was the major occupation of majority (43.83%) of the respondents with majority having a household size of 1-5 members. Most of the farmers (53.19%) have a farm size of not more than 2 hectares. Most of the farmers (50.21%) practised mixed farming. Average annual on-farm income of the farm households was N158,000.00, N132,000.00 and N215,000.00 for crop farming, livestock farming and mixed farming respectively. Factors influencing the choice of income sources were identified as gender (p
