System of Rice Intensification (SRI) practices are expected to be used in location-specific ways and thus will vary somewhat across countries and regions. This study undertook to identify a ‘best-bet’ version of SRI for conditions in northwestern Nigeria, considering what is feasible for farmer use. Two years of experimental data from 260 farmer-managed rice plots evaluating four of the SRI practices in Zamfara State were analyzed. The variables evaluated were seedling age at transplanting, plant density, irrigation schedule, and fertilizer application. Farm budget analysis showed that the best-bet SRI practices most productive given the natural environment and farming system were transplanting 11-day-old seedlings at 25 cm × 25 cm spacing, with alternate wetting-and-drying of fields, as well as providing full compost plus some inorganic fertilization. Net economic returns were found to be highest with best-bet SRI practices and ranged from USD 1450–2120 ha⁻¹. While rice production was profitable under both SRI and more conventional management, the return on investment was at least 40% higher with SRI practices than with the other practices evaluated. Based on our data and analysis, we recommend that the Nigerian government and its development partners prioritize and expand the testing and promotion of SRI in the northwest and other regions of the country. This initiative can significantly enhance farmers’ incomes and, ultimately, bolster food security.

Millet is grown in the large savanna region of Nigeria mostly in a system of intercropping with other crops. The study seeks to analyse the efficiencies of millet-based production pattern and its determining factors in the derived savanna zone of Nigeria. Data were collected from primary sources using a structured questionnaire administered to the selected 196 millet-based farmers. Input oriented Data Envelope Analysis (DEA) and Tobit regression model were used to achieve the aims of the research. The mean Technical Efficiency (TE) of the millet and sorghum (MS), millet-sorghum-groundnut and cowpea (MSGC), millet-sorghum and groundnut (MSG), millet-sorghum and cowpea (MSC) and sole millet (SM) were 40, 21, 38, 32 and 48 % respectively. This suggests that in the short run, there are gaps of 60, 79, 62, 68 and 52 % to increase the efficiency levels respectively. This may be through enhanced use of accessible production inputs. The mean Allocative Efficiency (AE) for the millet-based farmers was 0.56, 0.55, 0.67, 0.56 and 0.91 for MS, MSGC, MSG, MSC and SM respectively. The results revealed that estimates of factors that influence millet-based farmers’ systems have different degrees of statistical significance and where the level of significance is the same, the magnitude and direction were not the same. The numbers of millet-based farms operating under constant, increasing, and decreasing returns to scale were also estimated. The result of sensitivity analysis for an optimum plan for millet-based inputs used showed that land, seed, labour, fertilizer and agrochemicals are not limiting resources to obtain optimal farm plan. These results indicate the units needed to be decreased from various millet farms respectively for optimal production. More youths should be encouraged by the government and private organizations by providing them with necessary incentives to engage in farming to minimize inefficiency associated with older aged farmers.

Limited understanding of farmers’ perception and consideration during the development of improved seed varieties have usually resulted to their low rate of adoption. In light of this, the present study fitted an ordered probit sample-selection model using a sample of 400 legume farming households (LFHs) - 212 adopters and 188 non-adopters - in Northern Nigeria. The results showed that male-headed households (97%) dominated the sampled data with the majority being soybean farmers (81%) and whose standard of living was low. Household heads were adults (43 years old) and married (94%) in most cases with about a junior level of education (9 years). Key determinants of adoption of improved legume varieties (ILV) included education, household size, level of living, and soil conservation practices. Farmers’ perception was confirmed to be endogenously determined within the adoption system as being a function of socioeconomic characteristics, farm enterprises and agricultural practices. We recommend that farmers’ educational level be improved by increasing their knowledge of relevant agricultural practices such as minimum tillage and alley cropping that will aid the adoption of the ILV through positive perception among farmers. Policies that will enable both male- and female-headed households to have more access to land should be engaged in order to boost the adoption of ILV. Interventions that will aid rural areas in northern Nigeria to have improved standard of living such as better access to light, water, and healthcare facilities should be pursued since this will facilitate the sustainability of ILV adoption.

Arable farmers in Nigeria are confronted with the adverse effects of climate change, which affects their food security status. This study investigates Climate Smart Agricultural Practices (CSAPs) used by farmers in relation to the food security status of small scale maize farmers in Kaduna State, Nigeria. The study uses a three stage sampling procedure in selecting 351 farmers, and data were obtained with the aid of a questionnaire. Frequency, percentage, logistic model, index for food security and a constructed composite score were applied to evaluate the connection between the level of CSAP utilisation and household food security. Results revealed that the average age of the farmers was 41 years, the majority were male (86.04%) and married (97.14%), the farmers had an average household size of 8, and 16 years of farming experience. In addition, 66.67% of the farmers had contact with extension officers. Also, 50.43% and 49.57% of farmers were respectively food secure and food insecure, while the size of the household (p>0.01), off farm income (p>0.10), and farmers’ level of CSAPs utilisation (p>0.10), influence household food security positively. This establishes that with an increase in farmers’ level of utilisation of CSAPs the food security status of small scale maize farmers improves, suggesting that efforts should be intensified by stakeholders to promote the adoption of CSAPs, particularly among low users, by providing targeted training, field demonstrations, and incentives, and scaling up high impact CSAPs like conservation agriculture and crop diversification.

The study analyzed the cost and profit efficiency causal effect of System of Rice Intensification (SRI) in the Bakolori Irrigation Scheme (BIS), Zamfara State. A pre-tested structured questionnaire was used to collect primary data from 300 rice farming households in BIS, consisting of 40 (15%) and 260 (85%) adopters and non-adopters of SRI. Primal cost and profit systems and endogenous switching regression (ESR) models were used to achieve the research objectives. The findings reveal that under farmers’ cost minimization and profit maximization objectives, price of fertilizer, price of agrochemicals, amount of credit received and distance to rice plots significantly influenced adopters’ cost and profit efficiency. Similarly, the cost and profit efficiency of non-adopters were primarily determined by the price of organic fertilizer, agrochemicals and the distance to rice plots. Results further showed that SRI use reduced the excess cost in rice production by about 5.3% and the profit loss by about 40%. Based on the findings of this study, we recommend that more efforts should be harnessed by the government and research institutes in scaling up the testing and promotion SRI technology across other States of the economy in order to significantly reduce the current deficit of rice and for financial empowerments in rural areas. Extension agents should be used extensively in the process of dissemination of the technology.

The study focused on the profit efficiency of garri processors at the post-harvest value chain in Rivers State, Nigeria. A purposive sampling procedure and snowballing techniques were used to select 120 respondents for this study. The study utilized primary data collected with the aid of a structured questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics, such as the Stochastic (profit function) frontier model. The results revealed that more than 75% of the garri processors in Rivers State were female. The results revealed that garri processors were 37% profit-efficient, while the cost of cassava roots, the cost of grating/milling, the cost of hiring equipment, and the cost of transportation were negatively affecting the profit of garri processors. Years of experience in garri processing and education decrease the profit inefficiency of garri processors, while the cost of the cassava roots increases the profit inefficiency of the garri processors in Rivers State. The study suggested that adequate training should be conducted for garri processors in Rivers State by the extension agents and the Nigeria Stored Products Research Institute (NSPRI), and the government should provide incentives for such training. Also, garri processors in Rivers State should be encouraged to adopt the garri processing plant installed by the Rivers State government.