IMPACT OF PARTICIPATION IN IRRIGATION PROJECTS ON THE LIVELIHOOD OF SMALL-SCALE RICE FARMERS IN SELECTED STATES OF NORTH-WESTERN NIGERIA

The study examined the impact of participation in irrigation projects on the livelihood of small-scale rice farmers in some selected States of North-Western Nigeria. A four-stage sampling procedure was employed to select a total of 506 rice farmers for this study. Primary data were collected through the administration of structured questionnaire on participation. Descriptive statistics and propensity score matching were used to analyze the data. The findings revealed that 37% and 43.8% of the participating and non-participating farmers, respectively were within the age range of 41-50 years. Also 84.6% and 97.7% of the participating and non-participating farmers were male, while 94.3% and 96.9% of participants and non-participants were married. The result showed that using the nearest neighbor (NN) method, there was a difference of N242, 000.00 per hectare between the participating and non- participating farmers in project areas and the difference was statistically significant at five percent level of probability. The three most critical constraints include Inadequate capital (22.67%), inadequate irrigated land (21.41%) and pest and diseases (20.15%) reported by the farmers. It was recommended that since irrigation projects had a positive and significant impact on participants, yield, income and level of living, it was recommended that the project should be extended to other villages through sensitization of farmers on the benefits of irrigation projects by the extension workers in the study areas.