ANALYSIS OF SAVING AND INVESTMENT BEHAVIOR AMONG IRISH POTATO FARMING IN JOS SOUTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT

This study analyzed the saving and investment behavior among Irish potato farming households in Jos South Local Government Area, Plateau State, Nigeria. A multistage random sampling technique was used to select 90 respondents across nine villages from three autonomous communities. Data were collected using structured questionnaires, and analyzed using descriptive statistics and multiple regression models. Results indicated that 90.4% of the respondents save their income while only 9.6%of the respondents were not involved in savingeducation, 78.7% of the respondents have bank account, 81.3% of the respondents have personal savings Family size, and sources of income significantly influenced savings and investment behaviors at 1% and 5% significance levels. The linear regression model, which was chosen as the lead equation, had an R² of 0.722, indicating that 72.2% of the variation in savings and investment behavior was explained by the independent variables. Some personal reasons for saving are saving for unexpected expenses and for the rainy day. The study concluded that enhancing farmers’ access to financial services and implementing supportive government policies could significantly improve their financial behavior, productivity, and overall standard of living. Policy recommendations were made that provision of accessible loan facilities through microfinance banks and policy reforms should be made to promote rural savings and investments.