Effect of IFAD-Value Chain Development Programmme (VCDP) on livelihood of small-scale rice beneficiaries in Taraba state, Nigeria

Abstract

The study assessed effect of IFAD-Value Chain Development Programme (VCDP) on the livelihood of small scale rice beneficiaries in Taraba State. The specific objectives were to; describe the socio-economic characteristics of the beneficiaries, compare yield and income of the beneficiaries before and after joining the programme and identify constraints faced by beneficiaries in the study area. Multi-stage sampling procedure was used in selection of 184 respondents. Data were obtained through structured questionnaire and analyzed using frequency, mean, percentage, likert scale and t-test. The results revealed that average age of the respondents were 36 years. Majority (65.2%) of the respondents were male while most (77.2%) of them were married. The mean household size was 8 persons while the mean farm size was 3 hectares. Most (86.4%) of the respondents attended formal education. The mean years of farming experience was 13years. Majority (91.3%) of them have contact with extension workers. The t-test result implies that before the farmers joined IFAD-VCDP their yield was 1.92 tons and after they joined IFAD-VCDP their average yield was 6.02 tons per hectare. This indicated that the yield and income of beneficiaries improved when they joined programme than before the programme. This implies that IFAD-VCDP have impacted positively on the livelihood of beneficiaries in the study area. Major constraints were; insecurity and lack of payment of matching grant. Recommendations: the government should cooperate with the community to devise means of improve the security of life and properties of farmers and farmers should be encourage to cultivate the habit of savings in order to enable them pay their 30% matching grant.