Impact of Local Government Agricultural Subsidies and Market Infrastructure on the Economic Livelihoods of Rural Farmers in Mangu, Plateau State, Nigeria

This study investigated the impact of local government agricultural subsidies and market infrastructure on the economic livelihoods of rural farmers in Mangu Local Government Area, Plateau State, Nigeria. Driven by persistent rural poverty and severe post-harvest crop degradation within grassroots agrarian communities, the primary objective was to evaluate how input distribution efficiency and public market-storage assets influence smallholder seasonal net incomes. The study was anchored on the Induced Innovation Theory, which posits that targeted institutional interventions are structurally required to alter factor constraints and lower transactional barriers for resource-poor producers. Methodologically, a mixed-methods research design was adopted, blending descriptive survey and documentary approaches. Using the Taro Yamane formula, a sample size of 351 respondents was determined from a population of 2, 810 registered smallholders, with data gathered via structured questionnaires and key informant interviews. Quantitative analysis was executed using descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression modeling at a 5% significance level via SPSS 25. 0. The empirical findings revealed that the independent variables collectively accounted for 55. 9% of the total variance in rural livelihoods (R² = 0. 559, F = 210. 121, p < 0. 05). Market infrastructure exerted the strongest positive predictive impact (₂ = 0. 518), followed by input subsidies (₁ = 0. 436), though subsidy utility was heavily weakened by late distributions. It is concluded that transforming rural livelihoods depends on resolving input logistical delays and fixing severe preservation infrastructure deficits. Consequently, the study recommends that the local council digitize its subsidy supply network to guarantee time-sensitive delivery, and prioritize budgetary allocations for constructing modern, well-ventilated public cold-storage facilities to eliminate post-harvest biological decay.