AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS AND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT.

This study examined the effect of agricultural credit on rural livelihood diversification among cassava farmers in Orhionwon Local Government Area, Edo State, Nigeria. A structured questionnaire was used to collect primary data from a sample of 80 cassava farmers through a multi-stage sampling technique. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (frequency, percentage, and mean scores) and inferential statistics (Independent Samples T-test). The socio-economic analysis revealed that the majority (56.25%) of the farmers were female, with a mean age of 43 years and a mean farm size of 1.6 hectares. Cooperative societies were identified as the most frequent source of credit (33.75%), while friends and government sources also played significant roles (30% each). The
primary purposes for seeking credit were the acquisition of farm inputs for cassava
production (50.67%) and the payment of farm labor (26.67%). Despite access, 51.25% of respondents indicated that the credit received was insufficient for their needs. Livelihood diversification was found to be a prevalent survival strategy, with 92.31% of farmers engaging in other activities such as poultry farming, petty trading, and cassava processing. The results of the t-test analysis showed a statistically significant increase in mean income from ₦554,000 before accessing credit to ₦736,500 after accessing credit (P < 0.05), confirming that agricultural credit positively impacts financial leverage and diversification capacity. However, high interest rates (Mean = 2.586) and strict collateral requirements (Mean = 2.525) were identified as the leading constraints to credit access. The study recommends that financial institutions and government agencies should lower interest rates and simplify collateral requirements to enhance credit accessibility, thereby fostering sustainable rural livelihoods and economic resilience among smallholder farmers

Thе ѕuссеѕѕ оf ѕuѕtаіnаblе аgrісulturе dереndѕ nоt juѕt оn thе mоtіvаtіоnѕ, ѕkіllѕ, аnd knowledge of individual farmers, but оn асtіоn tаkеn by the аgrісulturаl еxtеnѕіоn аgеnсу іn hаrmоnіѕіng thе асtіvіtіеѕ оf оthеr аgеnсіеѕ involved іn аgrісulturаl development. This study assessed the effectiveness of extension workers in coordinating agriculture and rural development activities in Edo State, Nigeria. specific objectives of the study were tо exаmіnе thе реrѕоnаl сhаrасtеrіѕtісѕ оf agricultural еxtеnѕіоn wоrkеrѕ, extent tо which they реrfоrm аgrісulturаl and rural dеvеlорmеnt асtіvіtіеѕ, hоw еffесtіvеness іn thе сооrdіnаtіоn оf аgrісulturаl аnd rurаl dеvеlорmеnt activities and the constraints to coordination of еxtеnѕіоn wоrkеrѕ іn Edo State.

Nigeria as the world leader in cassava production, is yet to tap the full potential embedded in cassava. This study was conducted to determine the profitability analysis of processing cassava into fufu in Aguata Local Government Area, Anambra State. The specific objectives were to describe the socio-economic
characteristics of cassava “fufu” processors in the study area, determine the profitability of processing cassava intofufu, ascertain the determinants of profit among respondents in the study area, and determine the constraints to cassava
“fufu”processing.
Simple random sampling technique was used to select 60 respondents from the
study area. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire and interview
schedule. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, gross margin analysis and regression analysis.
Findings show that fufu processing is female dominated. The study indicated that fufu processing is profitable in the study area with an average gross margin of ₦48 786.74 per processor. The major determinants of profits were age of the respondents, packaging cost, starting capital, cost of cassava bought, price per unit sold and quantity sold per week. Fufu processing is faced with a major 10 constraints, such as inadequate capital (3.87), price fluctuation (4.37), cassava variety (3.40), and weather problem (4.07). The study recommends that the
processorspooltheirresourcestogethersotheycanjointlyboosttheirbusiness.

This study examined the postharvest practices information needs among tomato marketers in Egor local government area, Edo state, Nigeria. The specific objectives were to;
describe the socioeconomic characteristics of the marketers, examine various tomato postharvest practices engaged by the respondents, ascertain the information needs of
tomato marketers on post-harvest practices, identify sources of information on post harvest practices among tomato marketers, and identify constraints to tomato post-harvest
practice in the study area. A two stage sampling technique was employed in this study. Data for this study were
obtained from both primary and secondary sources. Primary data were obtained through the use of structured questionnaire administered through interview schedule to Eighty (80) randomly selected respondents from the study area. Data obtained were analyzed using
Multiple Regressions. Results from the descriptive statistic showed that all (100%) of the respondents was
female, and majority (68.8%) was married. The mean age, mean household size, mean years of marketing experience and mean average monthly income were 42.16years, 4.83
members, 13.34years and N43,771.19 respectively. Majority (85%) of the respondents was educated and majority (98.8%) was Christians. Majority (75%) of the marketers were
members of an association and majority (93.8%) were retailers. The study showed that information on how best to preserve tomatoes, information on tomato storage, and
information on how best to transport tomatoes were the major information needs of tomato marketers in the study area. These information needs were adjudged as needed
information with all above the mean benchmark of 3.0. Information sources of tomato marketers were analyzed based on their availability, accessibility and preference. It was
observed that information sources such as; fellow marketers, friends and neighbours and marketers union or cooperative were available, accessible and preferred by the marketers,
with means above the benchmark of 2.0. The postharvest practices engaged by marketers were sorting, grading, cleaning, disinfecting, transportation and marketing. The major constraints to postharvest practices information needs of marketers were inadequate financial support, lack of knowledge of relevant postharvest handling information, and
poor language of information presentation. They all had mean above the benchmark of 2.5 and were adjudged to be serious. Multiple regressions showed that only membership of an association significantly correlated with information needs on postharvest practices at 1% level of significance. The study concluded that though the marketers were experienced due to high years of marketing experience, they still need information on postharvest practices to improve their knowledge and extension agents should conduct an outreach for tomato marketers to help inform them more on postharvest practice they require.

Despite interventions by the government and other institutions to boost cassava production in Bayelsa State, maximum yield for consumption in the State is yet to be achieved. Hence, need to ascertain if the inability of the State to attain cassava sufficiency is linked to farmer-level efficiency. The main objective of the study was farm-level efficiency of smallholder lowland and
upland cassava production in Ogbia Local Government Area (LGA) of Bayelsa State. The specific objectives of the study were to; identify the socioeconomic characteristics of smallholder lowland and upland cassava farmers in the study area, estimate the technical and cost efficiencies of lowland and upland smallholder cassava farmers in the study area, compare the technical and
cost efficiencies of the lowland and upland cassava farmers, and identify the constraints faced by smallholder cassava farmers in the study area. A multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select 325 cassava farmers (176upland, 149 lowland) from 12 communities in Ogbia LGA. Cross sectional data were collected for the 2023/2024 cassava farming season using questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were employed to profile the socioeconomic characteristics of the farmers, a translog stochastic production and cost frontier model using maximum likelihood were used to estimate the level of technical and cost efficiency and also identify inefficiency sources in cassava production, T test was used to compare the mean technical and cost efficiencies scores of the upland and lowland smallholder farmers and a four (4) point Likert scale was used to identify the severity of the constraints faced
by the farmers

The marketing of groundnut is carried out by people of different background, trait, and communication skill and income level. The prices of groundnut, also dependent on the various markets, could vary due to several factors such as seasonality, market demand, quality, storage that could act as determinant of how price is fixed by the marketers. In regard to this, this study aimed at examining the economics of groundnut marketing in Oredo Local Government Area of Edo State, Nigeria. It examined the socio-economic characteristics of groundnut marketers, the cost and return of marketing groundnut, the variation in price between
the markets and the constraints affecting the marketing of groundnut in Oredo Local Government. Both primary and secondary data were used, the data were obtained through structured questionnaires. The secondary data were obtained from journal articles, textbooks and interviews.