The Impact Of The National Fadama II Development Project In Alleviating Rural Poverty And Improving Agricultural Production In Imo State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study determined the impact of the National Fadama II development project in alleviating rural poverty and agricultural production in Imo State, Nigeria. All the three (Okigwe, Orlu and Owerri) agricultural zones were involved in the study. A multi-stage random sampling technique was used to select 240 (120 apiece for Fadama II and non Fadama II farmers) respondents from which inputoutput data were collected. Instrument for data collection was a set of structured and pre-tested questionnaire. The poverty line was N12,925.24 and N7,908.42 per month for Fadama II and non Fadama II farmers, respectively. Poverty incidence was 0.5367 and 0.3215 for Fadama II and non Fadama II farmers, respectively while the poverty gap was 0.0337 and 0.1113 for Fadama II and non Fadama II farmers, respectively. The result of the paired t-test showed that the national Fadama II development project impacted positively and significantly on beneficiaries' output, income and labour use level at 5.0% risk level of significance. It was recommended that farmers should be given increased access to Fadama lands to help boost agricultural output and reduce endemic poverty.