Analysis of Drought-Tolerant Maize Adoption and its Effect on Food Security among Farmers in the Sudan Savanna of Northeastern Nigeria

Abstract

This article examined the factors influencing the adoption of the drought-tolerant Maize (DT) varieties and their effect on food security among farmers in the Sudan Savanna agro-ecological zone of northeastern Nigeria. Data for the study were collected from 200 farmers who were selected through a multi-stage sampling procedure. Factors influencing the adoption of DT maize varieties were determined through the use of censored regression (the Tobit model) while the effect of adoption of DT maize on food security was determined through the use of the chi-square test. The results from the chi-square test were further converted to a contingency coefficient in order to obtain the extent of the association between the adoption of DT maize and food security. The study revealed that income (ρ ≤ 0.01) and access to extension services (ρ ≤ 0.01) were significant in influencing the adoption of DT maize among farmers. The study also found a strong association (χ2 – cal = 15.53; χ2 – tab = 13.28) between the adoption of DT maize and food security among farmers in the Sudan Savanna agro-ecological zone of northeastern Nigeria with a contingency coefficient of 0.25. The study thus concluded that maize farmers in the Sudan Savanna agro-ecological zone of northeastern Nigeria are generally small-scale farmers that produce for subsistence. It was also concluded that the adoption of DT maize significantly reduced the level of food insecurity among farmers in the Sudan Savanna agro-ecological zone of northeastern Nigeria. It was therefore recommended that farmers should be linked to source of market for their produce in order to boost their income and that extension services should be strengthened so as to give farmers access to improved technologies.