Can Agricultural Households Farm Their Way Out of Poverty?

Oseni, Gbemisola; McGee, Kevin; Dabalen, Andrew

Can Agricultural Households Farm Their Way Out of Poverty?

Autores

Oseni, Gbemisola

McGee, Kevin

Dabalen, Andrew

Editor

World Bank Group, Washington, DC

Descripción

This paper examines the determinants of agricultural productivity and its link to poverty using nationally representative data from the Nigeria General Household Survey Panel, 2010/11. The findings indicate an elasticity of poverty reduction with respect to agricultural productivity of between 0.25 to 0.3 percent, implying that a 10 percent increase in agricultural productivity will decrease the likelihood of being poor by between 2.5 and 3 percent. To increase agricultural productivity, land, labor, fertilizer, agricultural advice, and diversification within agriculture are the most important factors. As commonly found in the literature, the results indicate the inverse-land size productivity relationship. More specifically, a 10 percent increase in harvested land size will decrease productivity by 6.6 percent, all else being equal. In a simulation exercise where land quality is assumed to be constant across small and large holdings, the results show that if farms in the top land quintile had half the median yield per hectare of farms in the lowest quintile, production of the top quintile would be 10 times higher. The higher overall values of harvests from larger land sizes are more likely because of cultivation of larger expanses of land, rather than from efficient production. It should be noted that having larger land sizes in itself is not positively correlated with a lower likelihood of being poor. This is not to say that having larger land sizes is not important for farming, but rather it indicates that increasing efficiency is the more important need that could lead to poverty reduction for agricultural households.

Palabras clave

ACCESS TO CREDIT, AGRICULTURAL ADVICE, AGRICULTURAL CAPITAL, AGRICULTURAL CREDIT, AGRICULTURAL CROP, AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT, AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION, AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION SERVICES, AGRICULTURAL GROWTH, AGRICULTURAL OUTPUT, AGRICULTURAL POLICIES, AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION, AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY, AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH, AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES, AGRICULTURAL SECTOR, AGRICULTURE, AGRICULTURE PROGRAMS, AGRICULTURE RESEARCH, ANIMAL TRACTION, ANIMALS, CASH CROPS, CASSAVA, CHILD LABOR, COMMERCIAL FARMERS, CONSUMPTION EXPENDITURE, CONSUMPTION QUINTILES, COST EFFECTIVENESS, COTTON, CROP, CROP HARVEST, CROP PRODUCTION, CROP SELECTION, DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH, DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS, DISTRIBUTION OF LAND, DIVERSIFICATION, ECOLOGICAL ZONES, ECONOMICS, EQUIPMENT, FAMILY MEMBERS, FARM HOUSEHOLDS, FARM INCOME, FARM SIZE, FARM TECHNOLOGIES, FARMER, FARMING, FARMLAND, FARMS, FOOD AVAILABILITY, FOOD POLICY, FOOD PRICES, FOOD SECURITY, HARVEST, HERBICIDE, HERBICIDE USE, HERBICIDES, HOUSEHOLD AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY, HOUSEHOLD COMPOSITION, HOUSEHOLD HEAD, HOUSEHOLD HEAD AGE, HOUSEHOLD HEADS, HOUSEHOLD SURVEY, IFPRI, IMPACT ON POVERTY, INCOME, INEQUALITY, INSURANCE, INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE, INVESTMENT IN AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH, IRRIGATION, LACK OF INFORMATION, LAND DEGRADATION, LAND HOLDINGS, LAND OWNERSHIP, LAND QUALITY, LAND SIZE, LAND TENURE, LANDHOLDINGS, LARGE FARMS, LIVELIHOOD STRATEGIES, LIVELIHOODS, LIVESTOCK, LIVING STANDARDS, NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH, NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SYSTEM, NATIONAL POVERTY, NATIONAL POVERTY LINE, NET INCOME, NONFARM INCOME, PALM OIL, PESTICIDE, PESTICIDE USE, POLITICAL INFLUENCE, POOR, POOR FARMERS, POOR HOUSEHOLD, POOR HOUSEHOLDS, POORER HOUSEHOLDS, POPULATION GROWTH, POVERTY ALLEVIATION, POVERTY INCIDENCE, POVERTY INDICATOR, POVERTY MEASURES, POVERTY RATE, POVERTY REDUCTION, POVERTY STATUS, POVERTY THRESHOLD, PRIVATE SECTOR, PUBLIC EXPENDITURE PROGRAMS, REDUCTION IN POVERTY, RICE, RURAL, RURAL ACTIVITIES, RURAL AREAS, RURAL COMMUNITIES, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, RURAL EMPLOYMENT, RURAL FARM, RURAL HOUSEHOLDS, RURAL INCOMES, RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE, RURAL POOR, RURAL POVERTY, SMALL-SCALE IRRIGATION, SMALLHOLDER FARMERS, SMALLHOLDER HOUSEHOLDS, SORGHUM, SUBSISTENCE, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA