Socio-economic Factors Influencing the Output of Small-Scale Maize Farmers in Abuja, Nigeria

Abstract

     Nigeria is one of the developing countries facing shortages of cereal crops like maize. Based on this, research on the socio-economic factors influencing small-scale maize farmers' output was conducted in Abuja. A multi-stage sampling technique and semi-structured questionnaire were used for data collection. A total of 160 maize farmers were interviewed in four agricultural zones (40 from each zone). Data were analyzed using multiple regression analysis and descriptive statistics. The results showed that the land area cultivated, land rent, quantity of fertilizer applied, years of farming experience and household size were the major socioeconomic factors that significantly (p < .05) influenced maize output. The R² value of 0.31 (adjusted R² = 0.26) indicated that the variables accounted for 31 percent of the variation in maize output. The mean outputs of maize per hectare and per farmer were 316.73 kg and 614.56 kg, respectively. Socio-economic results showed that the mean age of the farmers was 39 years with a substantial percentage (68.12%) of them having, at most, primary school education. Based on the results, it was recommended that farmers in the study area should be informed through extension services of the socio-economic factors that influence maize output so that the farmers can consider these factors in their production decision making process.