Analysis of demographic characteristics of “poor” and “non poor” cassava- based farmers in Cross River State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study analyzed the demographic characteristics of cassava-based farmers in Cross River State. The specific objectives were to analyze the socioeconomic characteristics of cassava-based farmers and determine the number of poor and non poor cassava-based farmers. Data were obtained from structured questionnaires and personal interviews. Multi-stage pre-survey and random sampling techniques were adopted to select the sample size of 360 cassava-based farmers with a sample spread of 144, 108 and 108 for Calabar, Ikom and Ogoja agricultural zones. The socioeconomic characteristics were analyzed using descriptive analysis, percentages and frequency tables. The result from the socioeconomic analyses showed that, 47.09% of respondents had family sizes of 4-6 persons. While in terms of educational qualification, cassava farmers with FSLC category had 34.84% and 29.03% in the category of farmers within age bracket of 41-50 years. The result for farm sizesshowed that, majority of farmers with less than three (< 3) hectares of land, were majority with 83.3%, and those who were able to access credit had 55.4%, number of extension visit was 59.6%. The female households were more prone to poverty of 40% and the males were 10% “non-poor”. Therefore, female farmers were prone to high level of poverty in Ogoja zone. Based on the findings it was recommended that policies that would enhance the income of cassava-based female farmers should be put in place and implemented in the State to help reduce their levels of poverty.