Nwafor Micheal Uchechi
This paper evaluates the ex post impact of farmers’ adoption of Root and Tubers Expansion Program (RTEP) on yield, crop income and poverty in rural Nigeria by means of primary data collected from 161 households in 3 local government areas in South West Nigeria. Using FGT poverty measures and propensity score matching techniques the study found that poverty incidence is higher by about 23% among non beneficiaries than among the beneficiaries of RTEP. Net yield per hectare increased by a range of about 13.00 to 18.52 metric tons while net crop income per hectare increased by a range of about ₦39,705 to ₦42,133 ($198-211) thus, reducing poverty by about 5 to 20%. The factors that positively influenced the probability of adoption of RTEP were: years of education, social capital, farm size and access to improved planting materials while planting of two or three root crops negatively influenced the probability of adoption of RTEP. Therefore, policy options that favor increased education, farmer group membership and access to improved inputs are recommended to encourage RTEP adoption and further reduce poverty among farmers.
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