Orange fleshed sweet potatoes (OFSP) and productivity: the case of smallholders in Kwara State, Nigeria

Abstract In rural Nigeria, most households cannot afford food products rich in vitamin A which gave rise to the introduction of bio-fortified agricultural produces. One of these is the Orange Fleshed Sweet Potatoes (OFSP). Although introduced about six years ago, empirical evidence as regards the actual level of adoption as well as its effect on their productivity remains relatively scarce. The analysis was built on a field survey of 183 smallholders in Kwara State, Nigeria conducted in the year 2016. Tobit model and the Heckman’s two stage models were used to model the determinants the intensity of cultivation and the effect of OFSP’s cultivation on the income of the smallholders. Results indicate that almost 87% of the smallholders sampled were into the cultivation of OFSP with 56% of them cultivating it solely for family consumption and its nutritional value. Also, 44% of them put less than half a hectare of their farmland to the cultivation of OFSP. The result showed that aged smallholders, members of cooperative groups and those who cultivate OFSP solely have a smaller proportion of their farmland cultivated to OFSP. Similarly, the age of the smallholders, household size, years of schooling, cost of production were the factors that significantly influence the cultivation OFSP on the income of the smallholders. The policy implication of this is that the potentials of OFSP have to be promoted particularly among the rural smallholders most especially through the existing cooperative groups. This can either be through organized seminars or specifically through demonstration plots.