ABSTRACT

This study examined livelihood strategies and their contribution to poverty reduction among farming households in Chikun and ZangoKataf Local Government Area of Kaduna State. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Censored Tobit regression Model and the Foster-Greer-Thorbeck‟s (FGT) measures of poverty.The distribution of respondents by nature of livelihood activities revealed that trade had the majority of respondents with 54% followed by artisanship which had 20.5% and civil service 17%. On the extent of livelihood diversification, majority (71%) of farming household had low level of diversification (depend on one sources of livelihood) with25% of farming household moderately diversified (depend on two sources of livelihood) and only 4% of the respondent were highly diversified.The study revealed that the major factor which negatively influenced the choice oflivelihood strategies was household size and nearness to market while factors such as age, gender, education, income of the farmer and credit received had positive effects on the adoption of the livelihood strategy respectively. Respondents‟ distribution bypoverty status showed that poverty incidence, depth and severity were 0.56, 0.25, and 0.14 respectively. The relative contribution from livelihood diversification amounted to about 56.14% of total household non-farm income and about 43.86% was from farm income sources. It was found that the major constraints to livelihood diversification were lack of access to formal loan, unstable electricity, high cost premises and poor access to market, Therefore, from policy perspective, Government should try as a matter of urgency to provide quality education to the masses (especially of the girl-child – being the most disadvantaged), this is because households with a more educated members tend to be more efficient in agricultural production or off farm activities. Also there is need for government to empowerwomen in terms of equal access to productive resources and employment opportunities This could increase the off-farm activities that could generate more income thereby enhancing poverty reduction among households. Furthermore, Government should provide sufficient resources to develop infrastructure, organize public                      services            and            implement            development            programs.

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CHAPTER ONE

I