Smallholders farmer's productivity has be declining due to many problems ranging from declining soil fertility to lack of basic inputs for their production. Hence, this study examined the determinants of Maize farmers' productivity among smallholder Farmers in Oyo state Nigeria. A three stage sampling procedure was used to collect data from rural maize farmers in Lagelu Local Government area of Oyo state. Descriptive statistics, productivity analysis and Ordinary Least Square Regression Model were used to isolate the factors that affect maize farmers' productivity in the study area. The socioeconomic characteristics of the respondents showed that majority of them are male (68.3%), the age distribution showed that 56.1% are between ages 41-60 years, a very good productive age for maize production. Majority of the respondents are married (86.6%), while only 4.9% are youths, an obvious albatross to maize production in Nigeria, with less youth population in farming. The distribution of the Total factor productivity (TFP) indicated that, 72(50.7%) of the respondents having TFP <1, 58(40.8%) having TFP 1.01-2.00, 09(6.3%) and 03(2.1%) having TFP>2 and TFP=1 respectively. The result of double log production function showed that the coefficients of labour, farm size (hectares) are statistically significant at 1% p>1, while that of farming experience is significant at 5% (p>5), with positives coefficients. The adjusted R-squared of 0.8572 explained the coefficient of variation of the maize farmers productivity model. It's recommended that farmers in the study area should be provided with tractors and other farm implements that can help increase their productivity, also increasing the farm size and land hectarage used for maize production should be prioritize. There is also the need to train the farmers adequately on new and improved farm practices; this will be like a boost to their experience in maize production.

The youth unemployment situation is an essential component of the current agricultural policy agenda of the Federal Government of Nigeria. Deep-rooted debates on finding a lasting solution to this problem using agriculture have been targeted as one of the panaceas. Using data from 207 systematically selected rice-producing households, this study employed the Propensity Score Matching method (PSM) and the Inverse Probability Weighted Regression Adjustment method (IPWRA) to examine the effect of intensive youth participation in agriculture on productivity and household revenue in Nigeria. We found that the key factors influencing the decisions of youth to participate in agriculture intensively include the number of years of farming experience, access to credit, membership in social groups, income, and land access. The PSM results indicate that rice productivity could increase by 1088.78 kg/ha if youth decide to intensively participate in agriculture. The IPWRA results show a positive and significant impact of intensive youth participation in agriculture on productivity and revenue. Therefore, our results suggest that efforts by the government and stakeholders towards encouraging flexible accessibility to credit (low-interest and easy repayment) and land without collateral to young people could enhance their participation in intensive agriculture and could subsequently boost productivity and household revenue.

There has been decrease in productivity of maize in recent time due to factors such as obsolete farm management practices, inadequate resource use fragile ecosystem, land tenure among others. Thus, this study examined technical efficiency among maize farmers in Oyo state, Nigeria. Primary data was collected through a multistage sampling procedure with stochastic frontier analysis as an analytical technique. Findings shows that there are more male 70.56%, majority are married (76.49%), 78.88% have either of primary, secondary and tertiary institutions with 34.4% of the farmers have access to credit. The mean farming experience is 7.11 years with 83.89% of the farmers having experience of (0-10 years), mean income of the farmers is x51512.22 and average farm size 19.12 heatares.

One of the problems cited as constraining the production of maize in Nigeria is stagnant production technology among Nigerian farming community, majority of who are small-scale producers. Thus, this study examined the poverty status as well as analysed the factors affecting poverty profile of maize farming households in Oyo State. Primary data were obtained from 180 maize farmers by multistage random sampling with the aid of well-structured questionnaire and interview schedule. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Foster-Greer Thorbecke index and probit regression model. The results of descriptive statistics revealed that 68.3% of maize farmers were male with majority (56.1%) between 41 and 60 years of age who were married (86.6%) with relatively large household members. The results also showed that 76.1% of them used their personal land either acquired by inheritance or bought and 79.9% had formal education. The results of FGT analysis showed that poverty incidence was 35.2%, poverty depth was 16.1% and poverty severity was 10.9%. Meanwhile, probit regression model results revealed that household size, farmer's expenditure, age, gender, marital status and improved technology were the factors affecting the poverty profile of the maize farming households. The study therefore recommended that farmers in the study area could reduce their poverty depth by controlling the number of child births, increase revenue generated from maize farm and adoption of new/improved technology.

Despite the fact that exchange rate (REXR) is an integral part of macro economy and economic outlook of Africa, many Africans operate without an excise understanding of its operations. Hence, this study examined the assessment of real exchange rate (REXR) through Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) in Nigeria for the period of 1979-2014. Cointegration test, Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) technique and Granger causality test were employed in the analysis. The variables utilized in the study include real exchange rate (REXR), real gross domestic product (RGDP), and inflation rate (INFLR) and real interest rate (RINTR). Stationarity test was conducted and the results indicated that all the variables were stationary at level. The co-integration test result revealed that long run relationship exists among the variables understudy. More so, the long term co-integration vector suggests that real interest rate (RINTR) and real inflation rate (RINFLR) have a negative impact on the exchange rate, while ln(RGDP) have a positive on the exchange rate. Finally, the Granger causality results indicated multi-directional relationship between REXR to RGDP, REXR to RINFL and REXR to RINTR. Based on the findings above, it is recommended that government should ensure a stable interest rate, as an unstable interest rate will have an effect on real exchange rate, hence the exchange rate should reflect market realities to promote efficiency in resource allocation and productivity growth. Also, maintenance of a stable exchange rate regime should be prioritized through strong monetary policies by government so as to help in improving standard of living.

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The prevalence of poverty among rural households in Nigeria has prompted various efforts on poverty reduction, and one way out of poverty for rural farmers is participation in cooperative associations. Therefore, this paper examined the effect of participation in agriculture cooperative associations on livelihood income and welfare of rural farmers in Osun State, Nigeria. Data were collected through multi-stage random sampling; descriptive statistics and Probit Regression Model analysis were used. It was observed that there were more male farmers (62.16%) than female (37.84%), mean age of the farmers was 37years and most (67.57%) of the farmers were married. Households size was (54.59%) for (1-5) family with 45.95% having farming experience of 11-15 years. Majority of the farmers derived their income from agricultural activities (39.46%), though the primary occupation was not farming (57.84%). Income level was (42.6%) between 60,000-80,000 Naira monthly and a larger percentage (76.33%) are active members of cooperative associations. Credit accessibility was poor with 35.14%, a contributing factor to low welfare status and poverty. The result of the Probit regression model showed that the coefficients of age, sex, years of education, level of monthly income, access to credit and size of the farm significantly affect participation in cooperation association in the study area. The coefficients of age, sex, size of the farm and access to credit were positive and significant at 1%, 5% and 10% respectively, while the coefficients of income level and level of education was negatively significant at 10%. Farmers in the study area also keep different types of livestock and domestic animals like Goat, Sheep, Fowls(poultry), Pig and Catfish as either major, alternative or additional sources of income. It is therefore recommended that cooperative societies should integrate adult education as part of their empowerment programmes so as to boost the literacy level of rural members. Also, short term loans, credit and inputs access inform of empowerment should be made available to agriculture cooperative members so as to strengthen the bond in the association and to help increase the income level of cooperative members.