Social capital and poverty among agropastoral farmers in Oyo state

Abstract

Poverty in the rural areas affects mostly farmers who constitute the majority of rural dwellers while agro pastoral farmers in semi-arid zones are more affected due to the inclement conditions and food security problems of the area. Although social capita has been found to aid poverty reduction, its use among agro pastoralists is still limited.  This study therefore assessed the level of household poverty among agro pastoral farmers in Oyo State and as well determined the influence of social capital on poverty status of the farmers. Primary data was collected with the aid of well-structured questionnaires in the semi-arid area of Oyo North in Oyo state from 150 agro pastoralists randomly selected using a multi-stage sampling procedure. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, FGT and Logistic regression. Poverty line of N4237.29 was obtained using mean per capital expenditure. Findings reveal that respondents with higher percentage in cash contribution and meeting attendance index (significant at 5% respectively) were less poor and more likely to move out of poverty cycle. Also, the agro pastoral farmers with higher years of schooling (significant at 5%) were less likely to be poor while large household size (significant at 5%) had the tendency of increasing the likelihood of poverty. Therefore, it is imperative to encourage increased participation in social networks among agro pastoral farmers in order to reduce poverty incidence and bring about desired development in the rural areas where agro pastoral farmers are dominant.