Determinants of small-scale rubber farmers' decision to participate in livelihood diversification in Edo state, Nigeria

Many small-scale rubber farmers are bedeviled with insufficient funds. This has made many of them to diversify their farming enterprises. However, there exists factors that either favours or inhibits their decisions to diversify. Thus, the study examined the factors influencing small-scale rubber farmers’ participation in livelihood diversification in Edo State, Nigeria. In achieving this, three objectives were set: to profile the socioeconomic characteristics of the smallholder rubber farmers, determine the income generation from different livelihood activities, and determine the factors influencing rubber farmers’ decisions to diversify into different enterprises. A multi-stage sampling approach was employed to randomly select a sample of 120 small-scale rubber farmers. The collected data were subjected to descriptive statistical analysis and logit regression modeling to examine the relationships between variables. Results revealed that the a large proportion of the farmers were males (87.5%), married (84.8%), and had primary/secondary education (67%). Farming experience was significant in influencing farmers' decision to diversify their livelihoods. The odds of experienced rubber farmers diversifying into other ventures were 0.846 times the odds of less experienced farmers. The study recommends policies targeting experienced farmers to promote livelihood diversification and improve rural livelihoods.