IMPACT OF THE NATIONAL FADAMA DEVELOPMENT PROJECT PHASE (II) ON POVERTY REDUCTION AND FOOD SECURITY AMONG RICE FARMER BENEFICIARIES IN KOGI STATE, NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

The study was conducted to examine the impact of the National Fadama Development Project (II) (NFDP-II) on poverty reduction and food security among rice-farmer beneficiaries in Kogi State Nigeria. Four LGAs that participated in the Fadama (II) project and cultivated rice were selected through a multi stage sampling, two Fadama Community Associations (FCAs) were also randomly selected from the each of the four selected LGAs and two facilitators were selected from each of the LGAs selected. A total of one hundred and twenty (120) respondents (112 farmers and 8 facilitators) constituted the sample size for the study. A set of interview schedules and questionnaire were used to collect the data for the study. Descriptive  statistics  like  frequency,  percentage  and  mean  score  were  used  to  analyze  the  data collected. Gross margin, Foster, Greer and Thorbecke (FGT) poverty model and food security model were used to determine farmers’ profitability, food security status and poverty level. Factor analysis with  principal  factor  model  with  interation  and  varimax  rotation  was  used  to  determine  major constraints while t-test were used to analyze the impact of the project on farmers’ profitability and difference in respondents’ perception of problems encountered. The result of the study showed that the majority of the farmers (51.8%) and facilitators (75%) were males, the mean age of the farmers was 45.5 years while that of the facilitators was 38.5 years. The majority (57.1%) of the farmers have farming as their primary occupation. Information from fellow farmers was the most popular (96.4%) source of information on fadama project. Among some of the improved innovations on rice production introduced by the NFDP(II), only the rice farming inputs and field preparation/planting distance had above average adoption ratio with adoption index of 0.84 and 0.96 respectively. The gross margins of rice production before and after the project was significantly different with t-value of -14.94 at p < 0.05. The food security analysis of the farmers revealed that more (2.8%) of them were food insecure after the project. The project had positive impact on poverty reduction of the farmers.   With respect to the perceived problems being encountered by the farmers in the project, poverty level of the farmers was perceived as the most serious (mean score = 3.89), while the facilitators perceived both high cost of farm inputs

and lack of credit facilities as the most serious problems (mean scores of 3.38 each). The results of the analysis further revealed that both farmers and facilitators share similar opinion on twenty identified problems and have significant differences in their perception on seven identified problems at p< 0.05. The result, however showed that several factors constrained the effectiveness of the NFDP (II) in the study areas. These factors were grouped into technical problems; institutional problems and economic problems.  The  most  popular  strategies  suggested  for  effective  performance  of  the  project  were provision of tractors for land preparation (65.2%) by farmers, proper implementation and completion of the programme plans as well as the supply of subsidised  farm inputs and farmers’ training (87.5%) by the facilitators. In conclusion,  the study provided evidence of the effectiveness of Community Driven Development approach on food security and poverty reduction. It is therefore recommended that, to improve the overall performance of the programme, the programme staff at all levels should ensure that the programme implementation plans, (various local development plans (LDPs)) are followed religiously and the programme projects are completed.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.0      Background of the Study

The major challenges facing the developing countries such as Nigeria are food insecurity (insufficient food production) and poverty (DFID, 2006). More than a billion people in the developing world live in the rural area on less than a dollar per day,  without enough money to buy food. It is estimated that of the 1.2 billion hungry and poor of the world, over 800 million suffer from chronic under-nourishment. Out of this, 34 million live in Asia, while 186 million live in sub-Saharan Africa (DFID, 2006).

Poverty is one of the gravest challenges facing the world today, with a staggering 40 per cent of the world’s population living with the reality or the threat of extreme poverty, and one in five persons living in a state of poverty so abject that it threatens survival (Gustavo and Kostas,

2007). Globally, extreme poverty continues to be a rural phenomenon despite increasing urbanization. And out of the world’s 1.2 billion extremely poor people, 75 percent live in rural areas  and,  they  largely  depend  on  agriculture,  forestry,  fisheries  and  related  activities  for survival (Gustavo and Kostas, 2007).

Poverty is a multi-faceted affliction as well as a raging economic and social phenomenon that manifests in the inability of the victims to acquire the basic necessities of life. Poverty goes beyond material deprivation to include insecurity, vulnerability and exposure to risks, shocks and stress. It specifically includes not having enough to eat, poor drinking water, poor nutrition, unfit housing, a high rate of infant mortality, low life expectancy, low level of energy consumption, low education opportunity , low employment opportunities, inadequate health care, lack of active participation in decision making process (Ajayi, 2008). Poverty in Nigeria has been described as “widespread and severe” (World Bank, 1996). The United Nations Development Programme

(UNDP)’s Human Development Index (HDI) ranked Nigerian as the 137th among the 174 countries listed with HDI of 0.384 in 1996; by 1997, the country slipped to 142nd position and ranked among the 44 poorest countries. By 2002, Nigeria ranked number 148 and was 142 out of

169 countries on the Global Human Development Index according to the 2010 Human Development Report released by the United Nations Development Programme (http://hdrstats.undp.org/en/countries/profiles/NGA.html). Nigeria’s basic indicators now placed the country among the 26 poorest countries in the world. The proportion of Nigerians living below the poverty line of one dollar a day has increased dramatically during the last two decades. In the year 2000, more than 70% of Nigerians were estimated to be living below the internationally defined poverty line. In the same year, both per capita income and per capita private consumption were lower than the early 1970s. Per capita income fell from $1,600 in 1980 to $270 in 2000 (ADF, 2003). About two-thirds of the Nigerian people are poor, despite living in a country with vast potential wealth (National Planning Commission, 2004).

The  links between poverty and  hunger are unambiguous, which means that  poverty alleviation must play a major role in food security for all considerations (Franz, Achi, Nyangito, Martine, Gérard and Le Vallée, 2004). Food security is now defined as the situation when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food for a healthy and active life (FAO 1996; Franz, et al 2004). However, this term has gone through stages of definition and redefinition. Approaches to its definition have ranged from an emphasis on self-sufficiency to an emphasis on coping with vulnerability and risk in food and nutrition access. In the 1970s, food security was equated to adequate food production. In the 1980s, food security was considered to refer to the security of food access and availability. In the 1990s, the importance of nutrition was recognized, and hence the concept of food security was combined

with that of nutrition security. In the 2000s, the concepts of food and nutrition security were integrated with vulnerability, risk coping, and risk management (Franz, et al 2004).

In order to deal with the problems of food insecurity and high incidence of poverty among the rural poor in Nigeria, it is very imperative that agricultural productivity should be rejuvenated. It has been empirically established that low productivity in agriculture is the cause of high incidence of food insecurity and poverty in Nigeria (World bank, 1996). This is because agriculture is the mainstay of Nigeria’s economy, contributing about 42% to total GDP and employing about 77% of the working population. It is therefore obvious that any policy measure aimed at alleviating poverty must take agriculture and rural development into consideration. The Federal Office of Statistic/World Bank (2001) in Adeolu and Taiwo (2004), analyzed the poverty trend in Nigeria and noted that poor families are in higher proportion in farming households that are mainly in the rural area. Therefore, it is very important to raise food production, create employment, and improve the institutional and policy framework for agriculture, as well as to rehabilitate and expand physical and social infrastructure in rural areas; all of which require increased and sustained investment and support for agriculture(Franz et al, 2004).

Previous and present governments in Nigeria have tried to sustain investment and support for agriculture by embarking on different agricultural and rural development programmes such as the   National   Accelerated   Food   Production   Programme   (NAFPP-1973),   River   Basin Development Authority (RBDA-1975),Operation Feed the Nation (OFN) in 1976, Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme (ACGS-1977), Green Revolution(GR-1980), Integrated Rural Development (IRD-1980), National Directorate for Employment (NDE-1980), Agricultural Development Programmes (ADP-1985), Directorate of Food, Roads and Rural Infrastructure (DFRRI-1987), the National Land Development Authority (NLDA-1992),The First  National Fadama Development   Project (FNFDP-1992), and the National Special Programme for Food

Security (NSPFS-2003)  (Ajayi  2001;  Daudu  2008).  These  programmes  were  fashioned  to revolutionize agricultural sector of Nigerian economy which was derailing from its  normal contribution to the economy (Oriola, 2009).

The first National Fadama Development Programme (NFDP) was to assist the qualifying States of the federation through the World Bank supported Agricultural Development Programmes (ADPs) network to, among others, finance the provision of shallow tubewells in Fadama lands for small scale irrigation, simplifying drilling technologies for shallow tubewells/ wash bores; constructing fadama infrastructure; organizing Fadama farmers for irrigation management,  cost  recovery and  better  access  to  credit  marketing  and  other  services;  and providing vehicle, pumps and other equipment. It is believed that the provision of this facility should not only boost agricultural production but enhance the income of the farmers and thereby lift them out of the vicious circle of poverty. The facility was enabled in the 1995/96 cropping year (Adeolu & Taiwo 2004) .

The FNFDP was initiated for small-scale irrigation development, to increase the productivity of the farming system during the dry and wet seasons (F.M.A.N.R, 1997; Agu 2002; Nwalieji and Ajayi, 2009). It was implemented in the seven core states of   Bauchi, Gombe, Jigawa, Kano, Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara. All the other states participated as facilitating state, that is, states in which Fadama I activities were introduced on pilot basis. These states (five of the non-core Fadama (I) states, that is  Borno, Katsina, Kogi, Kwara, and Plateau, and one of the Fadama I core states, (Jigawa) being co-funded by African Development Bank (ADB)   have been selected for the funding support for the second phase of the project on the basis of a comprehensive set of criteria of: (i) a written proposed action plan for both upstream and down stream post-harvest activities, (ii) a written commitment for regular payment of counterpart funds deducted at source (at the Ministry of Finance), (iii) evidence of viable and active Fadama

Resource User Groups or other economic groups, (iv) evidence of the existence of conflict management committees, (v) completion of a detailed assessment of existing fadama infrastructure, and (vi) a record of Fadama (I) loan recovery rate of at least 75% (ADF, 2003). As a follow up to the FNFDP, the World Bank and the ADB have jointly supported the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) to invest in a Second National Fadama Development Project (SNFDP) known as Fadama (II) project. The implementation of Fadama (II) project commenced in January 2004 and it was expected to last 6 years with expected results of increase in income of the farmers, employment and reduction in poverty as the major outcome. The National Fadama Development Project (NFDP-II) targets the development of small-scale irrigation, especially, in the low-lying alluvial floodplains or “Fadama”. The NFDP-II is intended to increase the productivity, income, living standards and development capacity of the economically active rural communities while increasing efficiency in delivering implementation services to an estimated four million rural beneficiary households (Kudi, Usman, Akpoko and Banta, 2008; Nwalieji and Ajayi, 2008). The design of Fadama (II) has incorporated a paradigm shift from the traditional public sector dominated/supply-led development approaches of the past to a private sector-led, demand-driven strategy.

The NFDP (II) was implemented in 18 States of the Federation and FCT.  While 12 of these states are under the World Bank financing, Kogi State and 5 other states namely; Kwara, Plateau, Jigawa, Borno and Katsina – are being co-funded by the African Development Bank (ADB). The project has built on the experiences of the National Fadama Development Project phase (I), which was implemented from 1993 to 1999 with World Bank assistance. The Project development objective is to sustainably increase the incomes of fadama users — those who depend  directly  or  indirectly  on  fadama  resources  (farmers,  pastoralists,  fishers,  hunters,

gatherers, and service providers) — through empowering communities to take charge of their own development agenda, and by reducing conflict between fadama users.

The project  had three components which were  capacity building (CB) and advisory services (AS), rural infrastructure investment (RII) and project management and coordination (PMC). Specifically the project aimed at enhancing agricultural production, productivity and value addition for smallholders and rural entrepreneurs in the fadama areas on a sustainable basis using community driven development (CDD) approach. This approach empowers beneficiary communities to take charge of their own development agenda by drawing up the community development  plans (CDPs) through participatory and  socially  inclusive processes, with the assistance of project facilitators (PFs) (Kogi state Agricultural development programme – State Fadama desk office (KOGI ADP-SFDO), 2007). The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), as executing agency, had the overall responsibility for implementation of   the   Project   .   However,   since   most   of   the   project’s   administrative,   financial   and implementation arrangements were decentralized and demand-driven, critical decisions were place at the community level — within the Fadama Community Associations (FCAs) and the local organizations or Fadama Resource User Groups (FRUGs) which support them. Facilitators supported under the Project helped to organize the Fadama Community Associations (FCAs) and guided  them  through  an  intensive  process  of  group  decision-making  using  a  range  of participatory techniques, resulting in Local Development Plans (LDPs).

1.2      The Problem Statement

The consolidated baseline survey of the six states funded by ADB in the NFDP(II) project, showed that poverty level in Kogi state was 0.23 (Gini coefficient) as at the year 2003 and the

annual income from crop production as a primary occupation was on the average, N103,568:00. The results of the baseline study make the state one of the states in need of an intervention (Fadama development office FDO, 2006). Hence the Kogi state NFDP-(II) was negotiated and signed on the 12th December, 2003. It became loan effective and disbursement effective on 3rd May, 2004 and 26th July, 2005, respectively. (KOGI ADP-SFDO, 2007). The project has the loan number 2100-15000-7169, and the funding arrangement is such that ADB will fund 90% of the total cost of infrastructure sub-projects and advisory services activities (ASA) as well as 100% of the total cost of capacity building activities (CBA). The state government was expected to contribute a counterpart fund of ten million Naira (N10, 000, 000) only annually to co-finance all operating expenses of the  SFDO  for  the  six  year  duration of the  project.  Each of the  10 participating LGAs was expected to pay the sum of one million, five hundred thousand Naira (N1, 500, 000) only, annually, for the six years  implementation period. This amount was meant for  the  payment  of  allowances  of  the  two  Project  Facilitators  (PFs)  working  with  the communities in each LGA and to meet operating expenses of the LFD (KOGI ADP-SFDO, 2007).

At the end of the project life cycle, it was expected that the following achievements should have been made: (a) construction of quality fadama access roads; market infrastructure, and rehabilitation of many feeder-roads. Others include portable water supply and demarcation of  route  and  grazing  reserves;  (b)  dissemination of  useful  and  practical  crop  and  animal production technologies and skills; (c) building the capacity of the communities to identify, prioritize and  implement  their  own projects; (d)drastic reduction in the  prevailing constant conflicts between the crop farmers and the pastoralists; (e) introduction of sustainable land management practices that would reduce land degradation normally caused by deforestation,

bush burning and pollution and increase the income of the rural farm families, reduce their poverty level and improve their food security (KOGI ADP-SFDO, 2007).

It is evident from the foregoing that the fadama extension activities in Kogi state were many. However, this study concentrated solely on crop farmers. The crop farmers are involved in the production of different crops among which are rice, vegetables, egg plant, water melon, groundnut, maize, cowpea and sugar cane. Since it was difficult to effectively cover the different crops simultaneously, the fadama rice farmers were the only target of the study.

Rice is an important grain crop whose production has been growing in arithmetic progression while its consumption has been growing geometrically. Over the years, the crop has witnessed a steady increase in demand and its growing importance is evident given its important place in the strategic food security planning of Nigeria (Shehu, 2010). Hence, there is need to improve its production. Under fadama programme in Kogi state, intensive efforts have been made in the past five years to bring about improvement in rice productivity for the purpose of food security, drastic reduction in poverty level among the rice farmers and at the same time, sustaining their socio-economic life.

According to the Kogi state ADP-SFDO (2007), some improved rice agronomic practices (herbicides mixture provision, improved rice variety planting distances among others) have been disseminated. After about five years of yearly rice production by the farmers, some improved yield in production and socio-economic impact (poverty reduction and food security impact) question became relevant: what is the impact of the fadama development project phase (II) on poverty reduction and food security among rice producers in Kogi state? To answer the question posed above, this study was designed to determine the impact of the Kogi state fadama development   project phase (II) on poverty reduction and food security of rice farmers who benefited.

1.3      Purpose of the study

The purpose of the study was to examine the impact of the NFDP(II) on poverty reduction and food security among rice-farmer beneficiaries in Kogi State. Specifically, the study was designed to:

1.  ascertain  the  level  of  adoption  of  improved  innovations  introduced  to  rice-farmer beneficiaries;

2.  determine the profitability of fadama rice production among the  fadama rice-farmer beneficiaries;

3.  determine the poverty level and food security status of the rice-farmer beneficiaries;

4.  assess the impact of the project on poverty reduction and food security of beneficiaries;

5.  identify the problems being encountered by both facilitators and beneficiaries of the project in the project implementation; and

6.  determine possible strategies for improving on the performance of the project.

1.4      Hypotheses

1.  There  is  no  significant  difference  between  fadama  rice  farmers’ profitability before and after the Fadama project.

2.  There is no significant difference in the perception of the problems militating against  effective project performance between facilitators’ and the farmers.

1.5        Significance of the Study

Though the NFDP phase (II) has an internal monitoring and evaluation unit which also carries  out  evaluation of the  project  over  time,  this  study  being  an  independent/ external evaluation shows how far the project has gone in the fulfillment of the predetermined objectives as it relates to the poverty reduction and food security of beneficiaries. This will give room for

reaffirmation and objectivity of evaluation results. This study will reveal whether an important programme like this has achieved poverty reduction among beneficiaries in order to ascertain whether the programme is on course, and to find out the problems being encountered in order to suggest remedies them. The findings of the study will also show an independent result to be compared with the monitoring and evaluation unit’s reports to assess their extent of objectivity.

It is hoped that the findings of this study would give the farmers and the public, the privilege to know more about the activities of the programmes and its effect. Besides, the major weak points in the programmes implementation would be revealed as well as possible strategies for improving project performance and these could be used as checks and balances by the policy makers and implementers in the planning, designing and execution of subsequent similar project in the study area or elsewhere.

The findings will be made available as published papers in both local and international journals, as well as being presented as seminar papers at conferences for the consumption of the various stakeholders, it will also serve as reference material for future studies.

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