The use of agricultural technology, such as high-yielding seed varieties in developing countries where the primary source of livelihood is agriculture is vital in reducing poverty, hunger, and promoting food security. This study examined the productivity impact of improved rice varieties (IRV) among smallholder farmers in South West, Nigeria, using cross-sectional data obtained from a sample of 250 rice farming households. The propensity score matching (PSM) technique was used to evaluate the impact of IRV adoption on rice productivity. The results of the study indicated that educational attainment, experience in rice farming, extension contact, access to credit, and access to IRV seeds had a positive and statistically significant influence on the adoption of IRV. Moreover, adopters of IRV gain 452 kg more rice grains per hectare of rice farms. The paper concludes that strengthening extension services using new strategies like electronic and social media may be more effective than the conventional method of extension delivery. Also, having an effective credit scheme and making the improved seeds physically accessible to farmers will increase adoption of IRVs, and subsequently boost farm productivity.

The increasing rate of youth unemployment in Africa, particularly in Nigeria, remains among the challenges to social and economic stability. Accordingly, the Nigerian government implemented several interventions, including the Youth-in-Agribusiness (YIA) program to reduce youth unemployment. However, the effect of these programs on gainful employment creation is yet to be documented. Therefore, this study examined the impact of the YIA program on creating gainful employment among the youth. Multistage random sampling was used to obtain cross-sectional data from 668 youth in Southwestern Nigeria. Propensity score matching and endogenous switching probit techniques were used for the estimations. Results indicated that variables such as educational attainment, access to training, non-agricultural activity, membership in a youth organization, access to credit, productive resources, and youth location were significant and positively influenced youth decision to participate in the YIA program. Furthermore, participation in the YIA program has a significant positive impact on gainful employment among the youth. Therefore, the study recommends that strengthening social capital such as youth organization, credit scheme (financed by private and government), vocational training, and educational system is vital in enhancing participation in the YIA program and eventually gainful employment of youth.

The rural youth population in Nigeria encounters one of the most vulnerable economic situations, due to limited opportunities. While most rural youth engage solely in farming for sustenance, others explore non-agricultural activities as an additional income source. However, there is a deficiency of literature regarding the nexus between rural youth farm households’ welfare and participation in non-agricultural employment. This study utilizes cross-sectional data from 668 rural youth farm households in Nigeria to investigate the welfare (proxied by total household income, agribusiness income and consumption expenditure per capita) impact of non-agricultural employment. Potential estimation biases were corrected by employing the instrumental variable (two-stage least square and endogenous treatment) regression econometric method to analyze the data. The results reveal that factors such as education, household size, membership in youth forums, accessibility to information and credit influence youth engagement in non-agricultural employment. The impact estimates show that non-agricultural employment significantly increases rural youth’s welfare. Therefore, the policy framework on rural development could be directed towards encouraging and providing opportunities via non-agricultural employment to youth. These could, in turn, provide an avenue to upscale youth agribusinesses and improve the general household welfare.

Food security remains a critical development challenge in the West African Sahel Region (WASR), where climate vulnerability and limited adaptive capacity threaten rural livelihoods. This study examined the food security impact of adopting climate-smart agricultural technologies (CSAT) among 3,371 smallholder staple crop farmers in WASR (Mali and Niger). We used an extended ordered probit and multinomial endogenous treatment effect model to analyze food security impact using two most common response variables: Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) and Household Food Consumption Scores (HFCS). Findings show that several socio-demographic, socio-institutional, location, and bio-climatic factors drive CSAT adoption and food security. Impact results indicate that CSAT adopters are more food insecure than non-adopters. Mechanism analysis reveals that adopters retained a smaller proportion of their crop production for household consumption but generated higher crop revenues through increased market sales. This shift in allocation suggests that while CSAT adoption may enhance financial returns, it can simultaneously undermine household food security when economic gains are not translated into improved dietary access. These findings suggest that farm-level sensitization programs should emphasize the need for farmers to strike a balance between agricultural investment and food security.