AGRICULTURAL LAND AVAILABILITY AND RURAL FARMERS’ OUTPUT IN ABIA STATE, NIGERIA
2017
Chigozirim Ndubuisi ONWUSIRIBE | Daniel Chinedu NWAOGU
This study examined the effect of agricultural land availability on the performance of rural farmers in Abia State. The study showed that 55% of the respondents practiced inheritance as the prevalent land tenure system implying that majority of the farmers cultivated on lands owned by them or acquired from their fathers or kinsmen. The regression result shows an R2 of 0.585 implying that 58.5% of changes in the availability of land were accounted for by changes in the variables included in the model while the remaining 41.5% was accounted for by error. Price of land and urbanization were negatively related to land availability at 5% significant level while age of farmers and distance to farm lands were also negatively related to land availability but at 10% significant level. The correlation result reveals a negative significant relationship between farm size and land market price. The correlation result also reveals a positive significant relationship between farm size and farm performance (proxied by net profit from farm produce sales). This implies that as farm size increases, performance also increases and vice versa. It was recommended that government intervene in the existent land hoarding challenge by rural dwellers and therefore make land available for willing farmers. Appropriate land planning programmes be promoted in a bid to reducing the fast run of urbanization with a consequent effect on land availability for agriculture.
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