DETERMINANTS OF LIVELIHOOD DIVERSIFICATION AMONG FARMING HOUSEHOLDS IN NIGERIA

The study examined the determinants of livelihood diversification among farming households in Nigeria. Secondary data from the generalized household survey (GHS) 2018/2019 wave 4 was used in for study. The GHS survey used a two-stage stratified sample selection process to generate its data. Descriptive statistics, Herfindahl index, and Tobit regression model were used for data analysis. The result shows that majority (88.49%) of the farming households were headed by male, who were married (86.42%) with a mean household size of 9 persons, mean age of 51 years and mean farm size of 1.2 hectares. About 65.31% of these households had one form of educational attainment or the other and 9.32% belonged to cooperatives, while only 18.07% had access to credit. Majority (98.09%) of the farming households engaged in livelihood activities outside agriculture with a Herfindahl index of 0.36. The Tobit regression result also showed that age, sex, marital status, tertiary level of education, household size, income, and the location of a household were factors that significantly affected the ability of the households to diversify their livelihood activities. In conclusion, the study established that farmers in the research area engaged in livelihood diversification in order to improve their household welfare and therefore recommended that agricultural activities be improved through the provision of new technologies, irrigation and credit facilities. This will bring about increased incomes for the farming households. Thereby, encouraging the farmers to engage more into agricultural activities other than non-farm activities