Impact assessment of Usaid-Markets Ii Project on Poverty Status of rice farming households in Ebonyi State, Nigeria

Nwahia, O.; Zakari, A.; Sanni, A.; Musa, M.

doi:10.21608/svuijas.2021.51918.1058

Impact assessment of Usaid-Markets Ii Project on Poverty Status of rice farming households in Ebonyi State, Nigeria

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Department of Agricultural Economics, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Ebonyi State, Nigeria

² Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Ebonyi State, Nigeria

10.21608/svuijas.2021.51918.1058

Abstract

Poverty is a major menace in Nigeria. There is an increasing concerns by the government, international and local aid donors for concrete evidence to be supplied on the impact of such public programmes that aims at reducing poverty. This research focused on the impact of USAID-MARKETS II project on poverty status of rice farming households in Ebonyi state, Nigeria. Multi-stage sampling procedure were used to select 239 participants and 252 non- participants of USAID-MARKETS II project for the study. Data were collected from primary source with the aid of structured questionnaire and field observations and analyzed using descriptive statistics (mean and standard error) and inferential statistics (FGT Measures, Propensity Score Matching and LATE Model). The result reveals that participation in USAID-MARKETS II project increased the participants monthly per capita income by N5336.9 (45.5% increment) as reveals by PSM (Propensity Score Matching) while the LATE (Local Average Treatment Effect) estimates shows that USAID-MARKETS II significantly, and positively increased per capita income of the participants by N1193.86 (5.4% increment). The result further shows that the increment was more on the poor participants’ monthly per capita income than on their non-poor counterpart. The study suggested that USAID-MARKET II project should be replicated in other parts of the state that were not initially involved in the project because of its pro-poor nature and positive impact. In addition, future USAID-MARKET project design should incorporate the socio-economic variables, norms, and culture of Ebonyi people for greater impact.

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