IMPACT OF RICE PRODUCTION ON POVERTY RATE IN USHONGO LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF BENUE STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study evaluated the impact of rice production on poverty rate in Ushongo Local Government Area (LGA) of Benue State – Nigeria. The specific objectives of the study were to examine the impact of rice output, rice income and rice labour employment on poverty rate in Ushongo LGA of Benue State. A population of 628 was arrived at from a pre-survey conducted in the study area; where a sample size of 239 rice producers was drawn with the aid of the Krejcie & Morgan (1970) formula. The study adopted survey design through primary data, which was collected from rice producers in the study area with the aid of survey questionnaires. Descriptive statistical tools such as tables, simple percentages and charts were used for data presentation and analysis; the Logit Regression was employed to test the hypotheses of the study. Findings from the results of the logistic regression model show that rice output has a negative and significant impact on poverty rate and that rice income has a negative and significant impact on poverty rate. The findings also revealed that rice labour employment has negative and statistically significant impact on poverty rates in the study area. The study therefore recommended amongst others that policies and programmes should be implemented by government to support and incentivize increased rice production among farmers in the study area, and that efforts should be made to diversify income sources for rice producers, such as promoting value-added activities like rice processing, packaging, and marketing.