ABSTRACT
Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) has undoubtedly assumed a critical position in addressing the complex issue of how to achieve sustainable agricultural growth for food security under climate change. This dissertation is an attempt to evaluate the objectives of climate smart agriculture, taking into account the obvious peculiarities of the Nigerian farming economy. Abia, Imo and Ebonyi states were selected for the study. Each of the state comprises of three agricultural zones and 30 respondents were purposively selected along root and tuber value chain line per Agricultural zone giving a total of 90 respondents per state and a grand total of 270 respondents for the study. Descriptive statistics, Heckman’s two-stage selection model, Cost and returns, OLS and ANOVA were used to analyze the data. The participation in agribusiness subsectors by the agri-preneurs showed clear overlapping of activities as no single agripreneur specialized. With little or no specialization, the respondents are exposed to a whole lot of risks and expenses which could be avoided if they specialize. The awareness of the use of CSA was created by extension workers (in Abia state) and by cooperatives (in Ebonyi and Imo states). The result showed that reduction of soil cover, application of manure, use of cover-crops and green manure, run-off water harvesting, use of pest and disease resistant varieties and early planting techniques were the most-adopted CSA practices. The Heckman model result for Abiaagripreneurs showed that in hurdles 1 and 2 (decision to adopt CSA and number of CSA adopted), farming experience, level of education and extension visit were positive while household size and risk index were negative. In Imo state, household size, farming experience, education and income were positive while risk index was negative. In Ebonyi state, household size, education and extension visit were positive while risk index was negative.The cost and returns analyses across the states showed all indicators – gross profit, net profit, expense-structure ratio and benefit-cost ratio (BCR) were positive, an indication of the viability and profitability of tuber subsector. With reference to net profit, BCR and returns per naira invested, the processing subsector was the most viable in Abia state; marketing was the highest in Imo state while production was higher for BCR and returns per naira invested in Ebonyistate.For the factors affecting the performance of root and tuber crop agripreneurs in South-east Nigeria, education, credit, household size and income showed expected signs.Risks relating to high collateral demands/interest rates, menace of herdsmen, floods/erosion, thefts and on-time deliveries of supplies were most prominent among input agripreneurs. Generally, agripreneurs were exposed to risks relating to their areas of specialization. Risk exposure in Abia state was highest for services, marketing and production agripreneurs; it was production, marketing and inputs subsector agripreneurs that were most exposed to risk in Imo state while risk exposure in Ebonyi was highest among inputs, services and processing agripreneurs. Actions geared towards specialization of the value chain without undermining the importance of vertical integration should be vigorously pursued.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title Page i
Declaration ii
Certification iii
Dedication iv
Acknowledgements v
Table of Contents vi
List of Tables ix
List of Figures x
Abstract xi
CHAPTER 1
1.0 INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 BACKGROUND INFORMATION 1
1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT 7
1.3
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY 10
1.4 HYPOTHESES 11
1.5 JUSTIFICATION OF THE STUDY 11
CHAPTER 2
2.0 LITERATURE
REVIEW 15
2.1 Conceptual Literature 15
2.1.1 Concept of Value Chain 15
2.1.2 Concept of Productivity 18
2.1.3 Concept of Climate Change and Climate Smart
Agriculture (CSA) 20
2.1.4 Value Chain Development Approaches (VCDA) 23
2.1.5 Cassava Production and Consumption in West
Africa 24
2.1.6 Cassava Production, Processing and Marketing
Profile in Western and
Central Africa 26
2.1.7 Cassava Value Chain Actors and their
Functions 27
2.1.7.1 Input Provision 27
2.1.7.2 Production 28
2.1.7.3 Processing 29
2.1.7.4 Distribution and Marketing 30
2.1.8 Yam Value Chain Overview and Actors 31
2.1.8.1 Farmers 33
2.1.8.2 Middlemen 34
2.1.8.3 Processors 34
2.1.8.4 Consumers 34
2.1.8.5 Exporters 35
2.1.9 Potato Value Chain Analysis 35
2.1.9.1 Producers 35
2.1.9.2 Marketers/ Suppliers 36
2.1.9.3 Processors 36
2.1.10 Economics of Climate Change 37
2.1.11 Impact of Climate Change on Agriculture and
the Implications 45
2.1.12 Innovations for Climate Smart Agriculture 47
2.1.12.1
Technological Innovations 48
2.1.12.2
Farm System Approaches 49
2.2 THEORETICAL REVIEW 50
2.2.1 Theory of Social Capital 50
2.2.2 Theory of production 52
2.2.3 Theory of productivity 55
2.2.3
Risk Theories 58
2.2.3.1
Modigliani and Miller’s capital structure theory of risk 58
2.2.3.2
Credit, Economic and Political Risks Theory 58
2.2.3.3
The Economic Utility Theory of Risk 59
2.3 EMPIRICAL REVIEW 60
2.3.1 Trend of Climate Parameters and Cash Crop
Variability 60
2.3.2 The Impacts of Climate Change on
Agricultural Sectors 61
2.3.3 Value Chain 63
2.4
ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK 64
2.4.1 Descriptive statistics 64
2.4.2 FAO’s VCA-Tool 65
2.4.3 Regression Analysis: 66
2.4.4 Heckman’s two-stage Selection Model 66
CHAPTER 3
3.0 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 69
3.1 The Study Area 69
3.2
Sampling Technique 70
3.3
Method of Data Collection 71
3.4
Method of Data Analysis 71
3.4.1
Model Specification 72
CHAPTER FOUR
4.0 RESULTS
AND DISCUSSION 77
4.1 Socio-Economic Profile of the Respondents 77
4.2
Level of Awareness, Source of
Awareness and Usage of Climate Smart Agriculture
byAgripreneurs 92
4.3 Determinants of the climate smart
agriculture use by agripreneurs in the
south eastern Nigeria 102
4.4
Value Chain Map for the Selected
Root and Tuber Crops in the Area 105
4.5 Performance of Agripreneurs along the
Selected Root and Tuber Crops Value
Chain Line in the
Study Area 122
4.6 Factors affecting the performance of the
selected root and tuber crops in selected
states in eastern
Nigeria 137
4.6.1
Factors affecting the performance of
the selected root and tuber crops in
Abia state 137
4.6.2
Factors affecting the performance of
the selected root and tuber crops in
Imo state 143
4.6.3
Factors affecting the performance of
the selected root and tuber crops in
Ebonyi state 148
4.7 Types of risk of concern and risk
exposure of the selected root and tuber crops value
chain in Eastern
Nigeria 153
4.7.1
The risk exposure of the agribusinesses
in Abia State, Nigeria 169
4.7.2.
The risk exposure of the agribusinesses
in Imo State, Nigeria 170
4.7.3.
The risk exposure of the agribusinesses
in Ebonyi State, Nigeria 173
CHAPTER 5
5.0 SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 175
5.1 Summary 175
5.2
Conclusion 181
5.3
Recommendations 181
REFERENCES
APPENDIX
LIST OF TABLES
Table 4.1 Socio-Economic
Profile of Respondents in the three south east states 77
Table 4.2 Socio-Economic
Profile of Respondents in three south east states
(Continued) 81
Table 4.3 Distribution
of Respondents According to Areas of Agribusiness Investment
in the study areas 88
Table 4.4 Distribution
of the agripreneurs according to level of awareness and sources
of CSA awareness in the three eastern states 92
Table 4.5 Usage
of Climate Smart Agricultural Practices by Agripreneurs in the three
eastern states 95
Table 4.6 Determinants
of adoption of CSA practices and number of CSA practices used
in Abia state 103
Table 4.7 Determinants
of adoption of CSA practices and number of CSA practices used
in Imo state 104
Table 4.8 Determinants
of adoption of CSA practices and number of CSA practices
used in Ebonyi state 106
Table 4.9 cost
and returns of agripreneurs under the input value chain in in the three
South East states 123
Table 4.10 Cost
and returns of agripreneurs under the production value chain in the three
South East states 126
Table 4.11 Cost
and returns of agripreneurs under the processing value chain in the three
South East states 128
Table 4.12 Cost
and returns of agripreneurs under the marketing value chain in the three
South East states 130
Table 4.13 Cost
and returns of agripreneurs under the service value chain in the three
South East states 132
Table 4.14 Cost
and Returns of Value Chain Actors in Root and Tuber Crops in Abia
State 134
Table 4.15 Cost
and Returns of Value Chain Actors in Root and Tuber Crops in
Imo state 135
Table 4.16 Cost
and Returns of Value Chain Actors in Root and Tuber Crops in
Ebonyi state 136
Table 4.17 Factors
affecting the performance of the selected root and tuber crops
farmers in Abia state 138
Table 4.18 Factors
affecting the performance of the selected root and tuber crops
farmers in Imo state 144
Table 4.19 Factors
affecting the performance of the selected root and tuber crops
farmers in Ebonyi state 149
Table 4.20 Analysis
of the input agripreneurs types of risk 154
Table 4.21 Analysis
of the production agripreneurs types of risk 158
Table 4.22 Analysis
of the processing agripreneurs types of risk 161
Table 4.23 Analysis
of the Marketing agripreneurs types of risk 164
Table 4.24 Analysis
of the Support agripreneurs types of risk 167
Table 4.25 Risk
exposure of the agribusinesses in Abia State 169
Table 4.26 The
risk exposure of the agribusinesses in Imo State 171
Table 4.27 Risk
exposure of the agribusinesses in Ebonyi State 173
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: value chain map for cassava, yam
and potato 70
Figure 2: value chain map for value added
cassava product Garri 111
Figure 3: value chain map for value added
cassava product Fufu 112
Figure 4: value chain map for value added
cassava product Flour 113
Figure 5: value chain map for value added
cassava product Starch 114
Figure 6: value chain map for value added
cassava product Feed Pellets 115
Figure 7: value chain map for value added
cassava product Ethanol 116
Figure 8: value chain map for value added
yam product Yam flour 117
Figure 9: value chain map for value added
yam product Yam flakes 118
Figure 10: value chain map for value added
yam product Yam Chips 119
Figure 11: value chain map for value added
potato product Potato Chips 120
Figure 12: value chain map for value added
yam product Yam flour 121
Figure 13: value chain map for value added
yam product Yam puree 122
CHAPTER
1
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background Information
The effect of climate
change is felt all over Nigeria. The duration and intensity of rainfall have
increased causing rise in sea level and flooding in most southern parts of the
country while rising heat and less rain has hastened desert encroachment, with
loss of the wetlands, and fast reduction in the amount of surface water in the
northern Nigeria. (Elisha et al., 2017;
Ebele and Emodi, 2016; Ogbuabor and Egwuchukwu, 2017). These climate change has
affected agriculture which is rain fed. The economy is not spared with many of
its working population engaged direct or indirectly in agriculture and reduce
yields and productivity of farm produce affects the income and standard of
living in the country.
The staggering truth is
that climate change has come to stay and will grossly affect humanity –
directly and indirectly. Directly through the increased scorching heat of the
sun, ice-melts in the arctic regions and indirectly through agricultural
productivity declines.
The agricultural sector has the
potential to be the industrial and economic springboard from which a country’s
development can take off (Stewart, 2000; Onwutuebe, 2019). This sector remains
the main source of livelihood for most rural communities in developing
countries in general. In Africa, agriculture provides a source of employment
for more than 60 percent of the population and contributes about 30 per cent of
Gross Domestic Product. In South East Nigeria and Nigeria, agriculture is the
main source of food and employer of labour employing about 60-70 per cent of
the working population (Bernard & Adenuga, 2017) and contributing
about 27.5% of the nation’s 2018 GDP (The Nigerian Economic Summit
Group, 2019).
It is a significant sector of the economy and the source of raw materials used
in the processing industries as well as a source of foreign exchange earnings
for the country (Mohammed-Lawal and Atte 2006). Since agriculture in Nigeria is
mostly rain-fed, it follows therefore that any change in climate is bound to
affect its productivity in particular and other socio-economic activities in
the country. The impact could, however, be measured in terms of effects on crop
growth, availability of soil water, soil erosion, incident of pest and
diseases, sea level rises and decrease in soil fertility (Adejuwon, 2004).
The agricultural sector is one of the
most vulnerable to the effect of climate change. In light of the Third
Assessment Report of global climate change prediction by IPCC, there is concern
about the consequences of climate change on the agricultural sector. Local farm
communities in parts of the developing world have already experienced food
security and traditional livelihood problems due to climate variability (Food and Agriculture Organization, 2002;
2006; IPCC, 2007).
The growing population have
made it an uphill task for agriculture to meet the food requirement and the
problem is compounded by climate change. Extreme weather conditions, high
temperatures, water shortages, ecosystem disruption among others have
significant effects on the different dimensions and determinants of food
security by affecting the productivity of rain fed crops and forage, reducing
water availability and changing the severity and distribution of crop and
livestock diseases. According to IPCC (2014) fifth assessment reports, it was
observed that that climate change effects are already being felt on agriculture
and food security, and the negative impacts are most likely in tropical zones
where most of the world’s poor agricultural dependent populations are located.
Through its impacts on agriculture, climate change will make it more difficult
to meet the key Sustainable Development Goal of ending hunger, achieving
year-round food security, and ensuring sustainable food production systems by
2030.
The magnitude and speed of
climate change, and the effectiveness of adaptation and mitigation efforts in
agriculture, will be critical to the future of large segments of the world’s
population. Integrating the effects of climate change into agricultural
development planning is a major challenge.
Effective adaptation requires technology and policy measures to reduce
vulnerability and increase the capacity of producers, particularly
smallholders. In addition, given agriculture’s role as a major source of
greenhouse gas emissions and the high rate of emissions growth experienced with
recent conventional intensification strategies, there is a need to look for low
emissions growth opportunities and adequate policies (IPCC, 2014). In the bid
to address the stated objective, climate smart agriculture (CSA) concept was developed
in order to address the complex issue of how to achieve sustainable
agricultural growth for food security under climate change (FAO 2009, 2010;
Lipper et al. 2014). According to Fanen and Adekola (2014), Agriculture is
said to be climate smart when it achieves three main goals: these are (1)
sustainably increasing agricultural productivity to support equitable increases
in incomes, food security and development; (2) adapting and building resilience
to climate change from the farm to national levels; and (3) developing
opportunities to reduce GHG emissions from agriculture compared with past
trends. It is pertinent to note that the tripartite objective of climate smart
agriculture may not be met at once; importance of each objective differs across
locations and situations. According to Nwajiuba, Tambi, and Bangali,
(2015) Climate Smart Agriculture practiced in South East Nigeria can be grouped into six
categeories which are a) Conservation Agriculture (CA) which aims to conserve,
improve and make more efficient use of natural resources through integrated
management of soil, water and biological resources combined with external
input. b) Integrated Crop Management
(ICM) can be understood as a compromise between organic production and
conventional production. c) Organic Agriculture which includes practices like
crop rotation and the use of cover crops, nitrogen management and fertilisation
regimes. d) Agricultural Water Management
(AWM) in which case water from different sources (rainwater, surface, and groundwater) can be used for crop and livestock
production. e) Indigenous Knowledge (IK) also known as local knowledge refers
to knowledge held by the local people, outside the formal scientific domain.
and f) Adapted Crop Varieties provide benefits primarily in terms of adaptation
to the effects of climate change.
Developing countries, and
in the south-eastern Nigeria where agricultural growth and adaptation for food
security and economic growth are a priority, and where poor farmers are the
most affected by – but have contributed least to – climate change. Mitigation
can often be a significant co-benefit of actions to improve food security and
adaptation (Lipper et al. 2014).
Available evidence shows that climate effect is felt more by developing
countries due to their low level coping capabilities and rain fed nature of
agricultural production which root and tuber crops is chief. Roots and tuber
crops that are widely grown in Africa have shared in the climate variability
effect. According to Sanginga & Mbabu (2015)
root and tuber crops, including cassava, sweet potato, potato and yam
are the most essential food crops for direct human consumption in Africa. They
are grown in varied agro ecologies and production systems contributing to more
than 240 million tons annually, covering around 23 million hectares. The
production of these root and tuber crops exceed cereal crop production in
Africa which stands at an average 169 million tons on 108 million ha of land.
It is widely believed that roots and tuber crops has the potential of
alleviating poverty and ensuring food security more than any other staple crops
produced in Africa. Sanginga and Mbabu (2015)
believes root and tuber crops can lead to sustainable food production because
they are versatile staples to address food and nutrition security and produce
more food per unit area of land, compared to many other crops. Potato and sweet
potato have a short production cycle which can allow the farmer to produce 2 to
3 times annually; root and tuber crops command high demand in local and
international markets respectively among others.
Among all the African
countries producing root and tuber crops, Nigeria is the highest producing
country of roots and tuber. Nigeria is
the highest producing country for cassava, yam and second highest for potatoe
after China (Oishimaya, 2017). The major root and
tuber crops produced in Nigeria include
cassava, yam, potato, sweet potato among others.
Cassava production in
Nigeria is the highest in the world at 47,406,770
tons, followed by Thailand at 30,227,542 tons, Indonesia (23,936,920)
and Brazil (21,484,218) rank third and fourth in the world in cassava
production (Oishimaya, 2017). Cassava is
grown in all parts of Nigeria because of its resistant to drought and
ability to survive in a variety of soils. Yam is another root and
tuber crop Nigeria top the chart in its production. Yam as a crop is seen as
food and cash crop in the country. Although yam production seems tedious and
expensive, its returns outweigh these challenges (International Institute
of Tropical Agriculture, 2013). In eastern Nigeria,
yam is seen as a prestigious crop and those who cultivate it are given titles
“Eze ji” in the region. Furthermore, Nigeria is the highest producer of sweet potato in Africa
with annual output of 3.46 million metric tons, and globally the second largest
producer after China (Oishimaya, 2017).
However, only about one percent of its production enters world trade with Canada,
United Kingdom, France and the Netherlands being the major importing countries.
These have left agripreneurs with an uphill task on how to improve the root and
tuber market.
Agripreneurship is simply
entrepreneurship in the agriculture sector (Aswale, 2015). They seek out
opportunities in agribusiness within the extended food system that can include
activities as diverse as processing, packaging, logistics, services, cooking
and recycling waste. An agripreneur sees agriculture as a business and seek out
gaps and opportunities which he can exploit and take advantage of and earn a
profit in the process.
One can argue
that the abysmal performance root and tuber crops in South East Nigeria could
be attributed to the lack of positive interplay between the actors and players
in the root and tuber value chain line. This lack of synergy has led to
increased agricultural loss, wastage, fluctuation in price and output
underutilization.
Value Chain
is a strategic corporation among inter-dependent players that work in
partnership to create value for the final consumer resulting in a collective
competitive advantage. It is an alliance of enterprises collaborating vertically to achieve a
more rewarding position in the marketplace (Splawinski, 2002). According to Kaplinsky and Morris (2000) Value chain includes all actors from production,
transportations, transformation, processing, marketing, trading retailing and
consumption of a given product or service. These players include
producers, processors, marketers, food service companies, retailers and support
groups such government, donor agencies, research groups and suppliers. The
basics of the agricultural value chain concept
is the differentiation of the total agro system and the specialization of each
element to optimize the entire system.
In Nigeria
especially South East Nigeria, farmers produce the stems and propagative parts
needed for the planting season, plant and grow the crops, harvest and process
the farm output. They also engage in the marketing of the farm produce to the
final consumer and in most cases, they are final consumer. This shows the
farmer playing the role of all the actors in the value chain; this increases
his operating cost, the risk associated with agriculture, timing consuming and
no specialization. The study dives into the climate smart agriculture, risk and
performance of agriprenurs in the root and tuber crops value chain in
southeastern Nigeria.
1.2 Problem Statement
In South
East Nigeria, most
farmers in the rural area notice the change in climatic condition but do not
attributed these changes to climate change. This affects the farmers responds
and ability to cope with the changes. Due to their poor knowledge and awareness
of climate change, most rural farmers still engage in non- environmental friendly
farming activities like bush burning, falling of trees, excessive use of
chemical on the farm among others. Farmers lack of awareness and poor
perception on climate change have contributed to the problem as their
activities contribute to anthropogenic (human induced) climate change.
Tubiello, et al. (2013) and
Smith, et al (2014) pontificated that Agriculture is also a principal
contributor to planetary warming. Total non‐carbon dioxide (CO2)
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from agriculture in 2010 are estimated at
5.2─5.8 Gt CO2 eq/year, comprising about 10─12% of global
anthropogenic emissions. The highest-emitting agricultural categories are
enteric fermentation, manure deposited on pasture, synthetic fertilizer, paddy
rice cultivation, and biomass burning. The growth of emissions from land-use
change is declining, although these still comprise about 12% of the total.
Given the need for agricultural growth for food security, agricultural
emissions are projected to increase. The main sources of projected emission
growth, based on assumptions of conventional agricultural growth paths, can
also have severe consequences for biodiversity and ecosystem services such as
water quality and soil protection. In the developing countries, farmers still
carry out practices like bush burning, excessive use inorganic manure,
excessive tillage among are practices which are not climate smart and
contribute to climate change.
Furthermore,
attention is mostly focused on primary production, huge crop turnover/harvest,
large flock management, enormous plantations etc. Nigerians pride themselves in
being the world’s largest producer of cassava and yam and the third largest
producer of potato, yet the enigmatic question here is despite our seemingly
agricultural feats, why is the agricultural industry not regarded as developed?
Production efficiency that could have been realized from the processing of our
massively harvested crops is lost; most of our agricultural export are in its
raw state. This is a result of a weakened the value chain process in the
country.
A typical farmer in the
South East Nigerian will produce the seeds he needs for his plantings, grow and
harvest the crops on his field, process the harvested crops, market the
processed product and even be the final consumer himself, promoting thus the
saying “Jack of all Trades, Master of None”. No differentiation of farming
activities, which as a result shields the benefits that could have accrued from
specializations. The sustained efficiency in the agricultural industry of the
developed nations hinged on the principle of specialized diversification
through the value chain. Here, each of the producers, processors, marketers and
researchers focuses on his enterprise as one’s output is another’s input,
ensuring quality delivery of resources to the next link without encroaching
into other production niches.
Agripreneurs face high and
varied risk and uncertainties (Julie and Hendrick, 2010) collaborating with the
assertion, Njavro (2009); NIPC (2006); Dercon (2002) and Milchaylova (2005)
added that risk sources to agribusiness enterprises can be grouped into social,
market, political, economic/financial, production, environmental and foreign
exchange risks. These risks and uncertainties easily trigger food shortages,
deterioration in nutritional status, destitution and agro-business failure
(Pinstrup-Anderson, 2002).
According to Mbanasor & Nto (2017), Nigeria is a major stakeholder and a force to
reckon with in terms of root and tuber crops. This is evidenced in the
country’s rank as the number one and highest producer of cassava and yam in the
world and third in the production of potatoes. Yet, her export of these products
are abysmally low and insignificant.
Government
intervention and funding in root and tuber research and development have been
very low and far paced among intervention. The amount of money released for
root and tuber research in the country is highly deficient and only fraction of
the allocation to root and tuber
research and development by the government are been remitted (Mbanasor & Nto, 2017). This begs the
question: how are these shortfalls
expected to stimulate research in value addition technologies of the
root and tuber crops which are highly exportable products.
Performance of the
actors along the root and tuber crops value chain have been very poor; this is
verified by the country’s inability to
be a leading exporter of root and tuber crops and its value added products,
high perishability recorded, poor research and development, fluctuation between
market glut and scarcity of the product. This low performance has discouraged the youths and able bodied men and women from
seeing the root and tuber value chain as a means of livelihood.
Furthermore,
value addition to agricultural production in Nigeria has been an uphill task.
Most farmers prefer to sell their produce at its raw state and others who wish
to transform the product from its raw state are handicapped by inadequate
finance, lack of technical know-how, unavailability of the needed machine for
such change among others.
Nigeria is
among the highest producers of root and tuber crops world over, yet the country
makes little from these products in terms of foreign exchange. In addition, the
value chain channel is not robust, this has affected the performance and
increased the risk associated with root and tuber crops. In other to understand
these problems and proffer solutions, the following research questions were
raised;
i.
What are the level of awareness and usage of climate smart agriculture by
agripreneurs in the area?
ii.
What are the determinants of the climate smart agriculture use by
agripreneurs in the south eastern
Nigeria?
iii.
How does the value chain map look like for the selected root and tuber
crops in the study area?
iv.
How has the selected root and tuber crops held up in terms of
performance in the study area?
v.
What are the factors having varying effects on the performance of the
selected root and tuber crops in the study area?
vi.
What are the risk concerns and the risk exposure an of the selected root
and tuber crops value chain in the study area?
1.3 Objectives of the Study
The broad objective of the study was to analyze Climate Smart
Agriculture, risk and performance of agripreneurs in the root and tuber value
chain in southeast Nigeria. The specific objectives include to:
i.
examine the level of awareness and usage of agripreneurs to climate
smart agriculture in the area;
ii.
estimate the determinants of the climate smart agriculture practices by
agripreneurs in the south eastern
Nigeria;
iii.
develop a value chain map for the selected root and tuber crops in the
area;
iv.
determine the performance of agripreneurs along the selected root and
tuber crops value chain line in the study area;
v.
estimate factors affecting the performance of the selected root and
tuber crops in the study area and;
vi.
examine the risk concerns and estimate the risk exposure of the selected
root and tuber crops value chain crops in the study area.
1.4 Hypotheses
The following hypotheses were tested in order to achieve
the specific objectives of the study:
Ho1: There
is no significant change on the performance of the selected root and tuber
crops in the study area;
Ho2: there is no risk exposure
within the selected root and tuber crops value chain;
Ho3: education, household size,
labour size, income are not significant determinants of climate smart practices
in the study;
Ho4: education, household size
positively has no effect on performance while risk orientation, credit used and
number of extension contact influence performance negatively in the study area.
1.5 Justification of the Study
The negative effects of
climate are here to stay, factoring climate change adaptation and mitigation
into agricultural development is therefore not elective for African countries
who are heavily reliant on agriculture. Climate Smart Agriculture equip farmers,
government and other stakeholders with reducing the risk of becoming
food-insecure and increasing the adaptive capacity to cope with risks and
respond to the changing climate. The study will in addition prepare the
government against climate shocks; improved market governance to reduce price
volatility, and expanded insurance and safe landing for farmers. This have been
reported to increase the prospect of making agriculture lucrative and
attractive to the youths.
Root crops are well known
for as ‘insurance’ crops and safety shields in time of drought and other
disturbances, but in recent years, root crops have also become important
economic drivers. This new role of root crops is the outcome of having reached
the ‘take-off’ point into commercialization of its products and by-products.
The production capacity and markets are such that root crops have moved into
being industrial cash crops. This development calls for more investment into
basic research, food processing and to better understand of food and labor
trends in the larger urban markets of Africa and beyond. (Hartmann,
2007)
There is a growing program
of research in Africa on yam, cassava, potato and sweet potato addressing
genetic enhancement, seed systems, production, marketing and nutrition impacts
supported by a number of national and international programs funded by the
Africa Development Bank, African Union Regional Economic fora (e.g. ASARECA,
CORAF, SADC, COMESA), BMGF, USAID, DFID, EU, GTZ, and others. (Sanginga
& Mbabu, 2015).
This makes the study paramount as root and tuber crops are seen to have the
capacity to help the masses and the economy of African nations, Nigerian
inclusive.
Innovations to enhance the
commercialization of root and tuber crops have not achieved their anticipated
impact. This could be a result of no clear-cut definition of roles of actors in
its value chain. Therefore, the study will help spell out the roles and role
specification of the players in the value chain of the selected root and tuber
crops.
Conducting this study would
help identify the key bottlenecks along the selected root and tuber value chain
and ways to resolve them. The ripple effects would be the tendency to equip the
rural poor to improve their productivity and hence their incomes, by
negotiating a fair share of the value-added generated by their produce along
the chain. In this way, farmers and
processors would be better integrated in their chain and the management and
development. This will also help spread the risk associated with the product
among players in the value chain.
In Nigeria, only a limited amount of empirical research
has been conducted concerning the root and tuber value chains, this study will
help contribute to knowledge and it will also help trigger more research by
scholars in the root and tuber value chain.
Furthermore, the study will help in assisting policymakers to design
better intervention strategies that are capable to stabilize the incomes of the
poor and decrease vulnerability, it is mandatory to have a good understanding
of the livelihoods of rural populations, and the risks they are facing.
Although macro-level studies on climate risk and nation-wide yield forecasts
are an important instrument to raise awareness of the coming risks, there is a
need for higher-resolution system studies, which can suggest development
interventions adapted to local needs and conditions. Thornton et al. (2008)
argue strongly “against large ‘magic bullet’ approaches, and in favor of
smaller, better targeted local approaches and interventions”. Reidsma et al.
(2009) point out that in order to project impacts of future climate change on
agriculture, current farm management strategies as well as their influence on
current production need to be considered.
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