Determinants of Non-farm Income and Their Effects on Agricultural Productivity Among Farming Households in Nigeria

The agricultural sector accounts for about 23% of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), with over 70% of the population involved in one agricultural activity or the other. Despite this huge involvement in the agricultural sector by farming households, majority are still relatively poor. As a result of this poor narrative among these households, it is not easy for them to attain optimum agricultural productivity. This also implies that majority of these farmers are easily prone to shocks and natural hazards assailing the agricultural sector negatively. To this end, this study investigated the determinants of non-farm income and their effects on the productivity of agricultural farming households in Nigeria, as a way of mitigating shocks. The World Bank Data on Emergencies Monitoring Household Survey 2021 was used to ascertain these claims. The descriptive statistics was used to determine the socio-economic characteristics of farming households while the Probit and the linear regression models were used in estimating the determinants of non-farm income and agricultural productivity. The results obtained elucidates on what effect agricultural non-farm income has on the productivity of farming households and how policy makers can make informed decisions that would support sustainable agriculture and mitigation of shocks in the Nigerian agricultural sector.