ADOPTION AND LIVELIHOOD IMPACTS OF CERTIFIED AND NON-CERTIFIED ORGANIC LEAFY VEGETABLE PRODUCTION ON SMALLHOLDER FARMERS IN SOUTHWEST NIGERIA

Phd Proposal Defense

By

Adebiyi Jelili Adegboyega (Gana)
Friday, October 21st, 2016
11:30 a.m
Room 320a+b, Natural Resources Building

ABSTRACT

A major issue with Nigerian agriculture is generally low agricultural productivity, attributed to constraints such as low soil fertility, and soil degradation. Livelihood challenges such as low income, food insecurity, and poverty in rural communities are linked to low agricultural productivity. Therefore, boosting agricultural productivity is considered pivotal to improving the livelihood conditions of Nigerian farming and rural communities. One strategy typically promoted by the Nigerian government to improve soil and agricultural productivity is the use of farm inputs, such as nitrogen (N) fertilizer, which may be subsidized by up to 75-95%. Mostly, this strategy has yet to produce desired results. This is for reasons including poor yield response to N fertilizer, with the latter attributed to factors such as low soil organic matter level and poor soil water holding capacity of most Nigerian soils. Domestically focused first-party and non-certified organic agriculture (OA) is being promoted by some Nigerian non-governmental stakeholders as an alternative strategy to help boost agricultural productivity and enhance farmers' livelihood conditions. However, anecdotal evidence suggests low adoption rates of OA by Nigerian smallholders, for unknown reasons. Equally, the livelihood impacts of the two forms of OA on Nigerian smallholders has yet to be studied. This study seeks to fill these gaps in scholarship by investigating the barriers and determinants of the adoption, and adoption extent of both first-party and non-certified organic leafy vegetable production (OLVP), as well as their livelihood impacts on smallholder farmers in Ibadan and Ekiti, southwestern Nigeria. This study also explores how the adoption and livelihood impacts of the two forms of OLVP are gendered. To achieve its objectives, this study will use a within-stage mixed-model design and a sequential mixed methods approach, involving qualitative and quantitative data collection phases. A framework named the Technology Adoption Livelihood Assets Framework (TALAF) was developed to inform the conception, analysis and interpretation of the findings of this study.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Laura Schmitt Olabisi, Committee Chair
Sieglinde Snapp, Professor
Kathleen Delate, Professor
Robert Richardson, Associate Professor
Saweda Liverpool-Tasie, Assistant Professor