CAUSAL EFFECT OF CREDIT AND TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION ON FARM OUTPUT AND INCOME: THE CASE OF CASSAVA FARMERS IN SOUTHWEST NIGERIA

This study examined credit accessibility, technology adoption and the impact on output and income of cassava farming households in Southwest Nigeria. Data were collected using structured questionnaire through a multi-stage sampling procedure. Ondo and Ogun states were randomly selected from the six States in Southwest, Nigeria. The next stage involved the random selection of four Local Government Areas from each State. Finally, a total of five hundred and forty cassava farmers were randomly selected from both States. Propensity Score Matching, descriptive statistics and Tobit regression model were employed in the analysis. There were 387 respondents with similar characteristics. Majority of the farmers were males with mean household size of six members. Average area of land cultivated was about 1 hectare. Credit accessibility was higher among the adopters. Credit access had a positive and significant (p<0.01) influence on level of adoption. Cassava yield and income (14.92 tonnes/ha and ₦321,758.00 respectively) of adopters with credit was higher than their counterparts (13.06 tonnes/ha and ₦287,110.90) without credit access. The impact of technology adoption was higher among adopters with credit access. Technology adoption increased cassava yield and income of adopters with credit access by 4.68tonnes/ha and ₦64,945.19 respectively compared with 2.57 tonnes/ha and ₦33,964.79 for those without access. This suggests that access to credit and technology adoption have the potential to transform smallholder agriculture in Nigeria. The study recommends that government should invest more on technology advancement and dissemination among smallholder farmers. Policy measures should also be oriented towards the improvement of rural credit.