Assessment of Kogi Appeals Project on the Livelihood Status of Cassava Farmers in Kogi State

This paper addresses the challenges militating against Agribusiness ventures and proper solution to revamp the depleting livelihood conditions of rural farmers and SMEs in Nigeria and by extension Kogi State. Assessment of impact of Kogi APPEALS Project on livelihood status of registered cassava farmers under the intervention programmes in Kogi State Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling technique was adopted to select 301 participants in Kogi State,44.18% of respondents were drawn from Kogi East Senatorial District, 36.54%were drawn from Kogi West Senatorial district while 19.26% were drawn from Kogi Central Senatorial district. A total of 301 respondents who are farmers were interviewed with the aid of questioner. Data was obtained via both primary and secondary sources and subjected to descriptive Analysis. The monetary value of cassava sales in (tons) was evaluated in relation to current market prices and per capita income of the state which is 4593usd as against N1400 to a dollar exchange rate as at today 11/05/2024 for the state. Results shows that 67.44% of the total respondents were males while 32.56% were females within the age range of 18 – 70years. All the respondents maintained uniform farm sizes of two hectare 2h under APPEALS Project intervention and about 11.30% were single, 55.15 % married,11.63% Divorced, 21.59% widowed and 0.33 % separated. Almost all of the respondents received support in terms of inputs supply (fertilizer, seeds and pesticides), farm mechanizations (ploughing, Harrowing and Ridging), Capacity Building Training and Development/Workshop and Rural Infrastructural Rehabilitation support which were evident from the descriptive model. The result of this study also indicated that farmers yields increased from an average value of 13.2t/ha (33.0% of recommended yield) before APPEALS project intervention increase it to 30.23 t/ha (75.58% of recommended yield).This yield increase showed that continuous Agricultural support program will address food security and alleviate rural poverty .This assessment reveals that APPEALS project Kogi State have impacted positively and sustainably on the rural livelihood of Cassava farmers and promote Economic growth in the State and Nigeria at large.