Can Agricultural Households Farm Their Way Out of Poverty?

This paper examines the determinants of agricultural productivity and its link to poverty using nationally representative data from the Nigeria General Household Survey Panel, 2010/11. The findings indicate an elasticity of poverty reduction with r...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors:	Oseni, Gbemisola, McGee, Kevin, Dabalen, Andrew
Format:	Policy Research Working Paper
Language:	English en_US
Published:	World Bank Group, Washington, DC 2014
Subjects:	ACCESS TO CREDIT AGRICULTURAL ADVICE AGRICULTURAL CAPITAL AGRICULTURAL CREDIT AGRICULTURAL CROP AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION SERVICES AGRICULTURAL GROWTH AGRICULTURAL OUTPUT AGRICULTURAL POLICIES AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES AGRICULTURAL SECTOR AGRICULTURE AGRICULTURE PROGRAMS AGRICULTURE RESEARCH ANIMAL TRACTION ANIMALS CASH CROPS CASSAVA CHILD LABOR COMMERCIAL FARMERS CONSUMPTION EXPENDITURE CONSUMPTION QUINTILES COST EFFECTIVENESS COTTON CROP CROP HARVEST CROP PRODUCTION CROP SELECTION DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS DISTRIBUTION OF LAND DIVERSIFICATION ECOLOGICAL ZONES ECONOMICS EQUIPMENT FAMILY MEMBERS FARM HOUSEHOLDS FARM INCOME FARM SIZE FARM TECHNOLOGIES FARMER FARMING FARMLAND FARMS FOOD AVAILABILITY FOOD POLICY FOOD PRICES FOOD SECURITY HARVEST HERBICIDE HERBICIDE USE HERBICIDES HOUSEHOLD AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY HOUSEHOLD COMPOSITION HOUSEHOLD HEAD HOUSEHOLD HEAD AGE HOUSEHOLD HEADS HOUSEHOLD SURVEY IFPRI IMPACT ON POVERTY INCOME INEQUALITY INSURANCE INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE INVESTMENT IN AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH IRRIGATION LACK OF INFORMATION LAND DEGRADATION LAND HOLDINGS LAND OWNERSHIP LAND QUALITY LAND SIZE LAND TENURE LANDHOLDINGS LARGE FARMS LIVELIHOOD STRATEGIES LIVELIHOODS LIVESTOCK LIVING STANDARDS NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SYSTEM NATIONAL POVERTY NATIONAL POVERTY LINE NET INCOME NONFARM INCOME PALM OIL PESTICIDE PESTICIDE USE POLITICAL INFLUENCE POOR POOR FARMERS POOR HOUSEHOLD POOR HOUSEHOLDS POORER HOUSEHOLDS POPULATION GROWTH POVERTY ALLEVIATION POVERTY INCIDENCE POVERTY INDICATOR POVERTY MEASURES POVERTY RATE POVERTY REDUCTION POVERTY STATUS POVERTY THRESHOLD PRIVATE SECTOR PUBLIC EXPENDITURE PROGRAMS REDUCTION IN POVERTY RICE RURAL RURAL ACTIVITIES RURAL AREAS RURAL COMMUNITIES RURAL DEVELOPMENT RURAL EMPLOYMENT RURAL FARM RURAL HOUSEHOLDS RURAL INCOMES RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE RURAL POOR RURAL POVERTY SMALL-SCALE IRRIGATION SMALLHOLDER FARMERS SMALLHOLDER HOUSEHOLDS SORGHUM SUBSISTENCE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2014/11/20356662/can-agricultural-households-farm-way-out-poverty http://hdl.handle.net/10986/20623

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Summary:	This paper examines the determinants of agricultural productivity and its link to poverty using nationally representative data from the Nigeria General Household Survey Panel, 2010/11. The findings indicate an elasticity of poverty reduction with respect to agricultural productivity of between 0.25 to 0.3 percent, implying that a 10 percent increase in agricultural productivity will decrease the likelihood of being poor by between 2.5 and 3 percent. To increase agricultural productivity, land, labor, fertilizer, agricultural advice, and diversification within agriculture are the most important factors. As commonly found in the literature, the results indicate the inverse-land size productivity relationship. More specifically, a 10 percent increase in harvested land size will decrease productivity by 6.6 percent, all else being equal. In a simulation exercise where land quality is assumed to be constant across small and large holdings, the results show that if farms in the top land quintile had half the median yield per hectare of farms in the lowest quintile, production of the top quintile would be 10 times higher. The higher overall values of harvests from larger land sizes are more likely because of cultivation of larger expanses of land, rather than from efficient production. It should be noted that having larger land sizes in itself is not positively correlated with a lower likelihood of being poor. This is not to say that having larger land sizes is not important for farming, but rather it indicates that increasing efficiency is the more important need that could lead to poverty reduction for agricultural households.

Can Agricultural Households Farm Their Way Out of Poverty?

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