Impact of promoting sustainable agriculture in Borno (PROSAB) program on adoption of improved crop varieties in Borno State of Nigeria

Bamire, S.A., Abdoulaye, T., Amaza, P., Tegbaru, A., Alene, A.D. & Kamara, A.Y. (2010). Impact of promoting sustainable agriculture in Borno (PROSAB) program on adoption of improved crop varieties in Borno State of Nigeria. Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment, 8(3), 391-398.

This paper evaluates the impact of the intervention of Promoting Sustainable Agriculture in Borno (PROSAB) project on the livelihoods of farminghouseholds in Borno State, Nigeria. Specifically, the paper identifies and provides information on farmers’ adoption of improved crop varietiesintroduced by PROSAB; measures their adoption rates, and analyzes the factors that affect the probability and intensity of adoption of the cropvarieties. A multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select respondents in three agroecological zones (AEZs) - the northern Guinea savanna(NGS), southern Guinea savanna (SGS), and the Sahelian savanna (SS), and a structured questionnaire was used to collect data on their socioeconomiccharacteristics and adoption parameters in the 2009 period. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and the Tobit regression techniques. Thepaper demonstrates how adoption and use decisions were significantly influenced by education, membership in associations, and yield in the NGS;yield and labor in the SGS, and age and labor in the SS, implying that these variables, and particularly yield, are important for consideration bydevelopment agencies who are interested in improving agricultural production and the livelihoods of the people.