Socio-Economic, Infrastructural and Institutional Drivers of Smallholder Rice Farmers’ Welfare in North West, Nigeria.

This study investigated the socio-economic, infrastructural, and institutional drivers of smallholder rice farmers’ welfare in Kaduna and Kano States, North West Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling design was employed to select a sample of 260 rice farmers. The objectives were to describe farm and farmers’ characteristics of rice farmers, estimate welfare status using the Rice Farmer Household Income Exchange (RFHIE), evaluate influencing factors influencing the welfare status of rice farmers using Logit regression model, and identify constraints faced by rice farmers using Kendall’s Coefficient of Concordance. The result reveals that the rice farmers, with an average age of 45 years, 11 years of education, and 7 household members, face significant infrastructural and institutional challenges. The RFHIE indicates that approximately 41.15% of rice farmers (157 rice farmers) belongs to higher welfare status, while 58.8% of the rice farmers (153 rice farmers) belongs to lower welfare status. The Logit regression results (Likelihood ratio chi-square = 75.49, p < 0.01) show that education, household size, amount of credit accessed, distant to nearby markets, access to storage facilities, and members of cooperatives significantly influence welfare status of rice farmers. The Kendall’s Coefficient (W = 0.496, chi-square = 624.47, p < 0.05) ranks limited access to credit, lack of access to market, , poor roads infrastructures, and lack of extension services as top four constraints facing rice growers. The policy interventions should prioritize improving market access, infrastructure, and extension services to enhance rice farmers’ welfare, contributing to poverty alleviation and agricultural development in Nigeria.