EVALUATING AGRICULTURE AS A SUSTAINABLE TOOL FOR POVERTY REDUCTION: THE EXPERIENCE OF ABAKALIKI URBAN, EBONYI STATE
Abstract
This research was carried out to assess Urban Agriculture as a sustainable tool in reducing poverty in Abakaliki urban of Ebonyi state. Specific objectives were outlined which includes; describing the socio-economic characteristics of urban farmers in the study area; identifying the various kinds of farming system practiced by the urban farmers in the study area; analyzing the farmers’ perceptions of the roles of Urban Agriculture in reducing poverty; Both descriptive and inferential statistics were employed to analyze the objectives. Data were collected from a total of eighty urban farmers randomly selected from the study area. Analysis of the data collected showed that Urban Agriculture was practiced mostly by women with 66.2%. Majority of the respondents (83.8%) were within the active age range of 21-50 years with 72.5% having one form of formal education or the other ranging from primary to tertiary education. Results of the analysis also revealed that majority (78.8%) of the respondents were married and 91.3% had households between 1-10 members. Majority (78.8%) of the respondents also had long farming experiences from 7 years and above and 93.7% used farm lands above 0.5 ha. The study further revealed that 73.7% of the respondents combined farming with other occupations, 57.5% earn below N50,000 annually from their farm income and 67.5% earn above N50,000 from both their farming activities and other economic activities. The results also showed that crop and livestock production were mostly practiced by the urban farmers with 86.3% into crop production and 62.5% into livestock production. About 61.3% of the respondents hired labourers to work for them and 70% produce at a semi-subsistence level. Residential compounds and vacant plots formed the major farming environments in the study area with 52.5% using their residential compounds and 43.8% using vacant plots. Also, the results of the five-point Likert scale showed that Urban Agriculture is perceived by the respondents as being able to give households better and stable access to food (4.67); provide extra income for the purchase of other necessities (4.71); help farmers to save (3.62); create employment opportunities for the urban poor (4.29); enable farmers to enjoy different diets at any time (4.23) and improve the general standard of living of farmers (4.72). Furthermore, the multiple regression analysis showed the effect of the socio-economic characteristics of the respondents on their farm income. The coefficient of multiple determination (R2 = 0.770) indicates that 77% of the variations in the dependent variable (urban farm income) was attributed to the independent variables (socio-economic characteristics of the urban farmers). Age, farming experience, household size, farm size and number of farm enterprise showed positive relationships with farm income, while occupation showed a negative relationship with farm income. We find out that urban dwellers involved in Urban Agriculture should form cooperatives that are functional and well-managed. This will enable them to obtain credit easily even when they lack tangible security. Also Basic infrastructures like roads, electricity, and pipe-borne water among other basic infrastructures should be provided by the government and other private sectors. This will help improve the performance of urban farmers in Urban Agriculture.
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