ARABLE CROP FARMING AND FARMER WELFARE IN IBARAPA EAST LGA, OYO STATE, NIGERIA

Enhancement of rural households’ welfare is a concurrent policy objective in Nigeria. This study analyzed the determinants of welfare among arable crop farmers in the study area. The data for the study were collected from 120 randomly selected farming households and analyzed using descriptive statistics and censored Tobit regression model. Description of the welfare indicators revealed that the respondents were in the low to middle-income earning group. Most of the respondents used corrugated iron sheets, cement walls, and concrete floors. The respondents had little concern for the environment as evidenced by their poor waste disposal and drainage practices. Results from the regression analysis revealed that, of all the explanatory variables modeled to influence household expenditure per capita, farm size, household size, and years of schooling were the only significant predictors. Based on the outcome of this study, a key recommendation is that the government and other key stakeholders ought to emphasize the need for obtaining a high level of education since education impacted the farmers’ welfare. This will affect their capacity to adopt new technology and their perception of growing their household size to hire family labor given its significant impact on their expenditure level and, as a result, their general welfare