Analysis of Response Capacity of Rural Households to Selected Poverty Intervention Programmes in Imo State, Nigeria

ABSTRACT

This study analysed the response capacity of rural farmers to National Fadama Development Programme (NFDP) and National Special Programme for Food Security (NSPFS) in Imo State, Nigeria. The specific objectives were to; categorize and describe response capacity of rural farmers, assess the level of knowledge of rural farmers’ to the rural poverty intervention programmes, determine the relationship between behavioural process and response capacity, determine factors that affect positive response to rural poverty intervention programmes, ascertain the rural farmers’ perception of agricultural extension effectiveness on positive response to rural poverty intervention and identify the perceived constraints to desirable response to poverty intervention programmes in the study area. Data were collected through the use of standardized questionnaire. Descriptive statistics (frequency distribution, mean score and percentages) and inferential statistics (multinomial logit regression, Chi-square and Univariate analyses) were used to analyse the data generated. The mean age was 50.7 years. Majority (57.9%) of the rural households in the study area were male with mean household size of 6 persons. The results further showed that majority (86.5%) of the rural farmers were engaged in crop production. The mean net annual farm income was N97041.63. Majority (90.6%) were members of social organisation especially cooperative societies (65.1%). A total of 97.4 percent had one form of formal education or the other. Extension agents (71.7%) were identified as their major source of agricultural information. The study found that majority (58.3%) of the rural farmers had high level of knowledge about NFDP while only 31.7% had high knowledge level about NSPFS. Majority (64%) of the rural farmers perceived extension service as not effective in activities in rural poverty intervention programme. The study also revealed that behavioural process has a positive and significant effect on response capacity at p0.05 critical level with a regression coefficient of 0.693 and R2 of 0.894. Majority (65.7%) of the rural farmers in the study area fell within the desirable response capacity, which is a sociological prerequisite for participation in rural poverty intervention programme. The multinomial logit regression results revealed that probability of being in the desirable response category increases with net annual income (4.055) and farmers’ self esteem (0.373) while sex (4.645), level of education (9.300), extension effectiveness (38.569), number of information sources (11.772) and distance to LGA headquarters (11.111) each decreases the probability of being in desirable response category to rural poverty intervention relative to the reference category. The constraints militating against positive response to NFDP and NSPFS poverty intervention programmes included institutional bottlenecks of the programmes (M = 3.32), lack of access to credit (3.19), lack of capital (M = 3.00), stringent requirements for qualification to participate in the programmes (M = 3.16), lack of awareness of NSPFS (M = 2.98) and lack of awareness of NFDP (M = 2.56). The study recommends that government should reposition extension service to be effective in services delivery to targeted beneficiaries in future poverty intervention programmes. Also the existing public agricultural extension service, Imo State Agricultural Development Programme (IMADP) should work in synergy with programme-donor agencies in order to carry out good sensitization campaigns at the inception of any rural poverty programme to create awareness and lay the foundation for desirable response required for the programme success.

Keywords: Response capacity, Rural, Poverty, Households and Programmes