Impact assessment of Komadugu-Yobe Basin Wetlands Development Initiative Project on farmers livelihood in Jigawa State, Nigeria

Abstract

Abstract. Umar B, Akpoko JG, Musa MW. 2019. Impact assessment of Komadugu-Yobe Basin Wetlands Development Initiative Project on farmers livelihood in Jigawa State, Nigeria. Bonorowo Wetlands 9: 1-8. This study assessed the impact of the Komadugu-Yobe Wetlands Development Initiative project on income, agricultural production, and the standard of living of the people. Primary data were obtained by the use of a structured questionnaire that was administered to 456 respondents comprising the project participants and non-participants. Descriptive statistics, logistic regression, and the Chow test analyzed the data collected. The findings on the socio-economic variables revealed that the mean age of the participants was 36 years and participants were younger in terms of age distribution; the participants were relatively more educated than the nonparticipants, the participants were also organized into viable associations under the project, and the average years of farming experience of participants was 15 years while the nonparticipants had about 14 years. It was also found that the majority (85.5) of the participants have not benefitted from credit facilities. The logistic regression analysis shows that the socio-economic characteristics such as age (0.022**), level of education (0.000*), farm size (0.018*), Household size (0.224*), membership of cooperatives (0.022*), and access to credit (0.023**) were the essential variables that predicted farmer participation in the project. The results of the Chow test show that the F-calculated values on income, crop output, and living standards were higher than the F-tabulated values. It has been concluded that the Komadugu-Yobe Basin Wetlands Development Initiative project positively impacted the project participants. It is recommended that the project should register more participants as the activities of the project had impacted positively on the lives of the participants, to provide more employment opportunities for the youth in the area. Access to loans happened to be a factor that militates against enhancing crop production in the study area. It is recommended that farmers in the study area be linked with financial institutions or government agencies by the project to access loans to boost crop production in the area. The Government should revive extension activities which play a significant role in extending information to farmers as the ratio of an extension agent is very low; when extension problems are solved, crop production in the area would be enhanced.