An empirical analysis of fertiliser use intensity in rural Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

Purpose It is generally agreed that shortage of food, which is one of the main problems bedevilling Sub-Saharan African region, can be eliminated via the adoption of modern agricultural production technology, one of which is chemical fertiliser. The purpose of this paper is to assess the factors that can be used to improve the intensity of fertiliser use in rural Sub-Saharan African countries, taking Tofa, a local government area in Kano State, Nigeria, as the case study. Design/methodology/approach The study adopted a two-stage sampling technique. In the first stage, four districts were chosen using a simple random sampling technique from the list of the 15 districts in the local government area, namely, Tofa, Langel, Lambu and Doka. In the second stage, 25 farmer households were systematically selected from each of the selected communities. Moreover, Tobit Regression model was used to examine and analyse the influence of some socio-economic factors on fertiliser use intensity. Findings To improve the rate of fertiliser use intensity, farmers need to be exposed to skills and training on some off-farm jobs to raise the farmers’ income to enable them to afford more fertiliser. The study finds that income, contact with extension agent, age of the farmer and method of fertiliser application have positive significant impacts on the intensity of fertiliser use. On the other hand, price of fertiliser was found to have negative impact on the intensity of using fertiliser in the study area. Furthermore, based on the data obtained from the selected samples, the average rate of fertiliser application in Tofa local government area during the crop season of 2011/2012 was 25 kg per hectare. Originality/value Policies that will strengthen the farmers’ contact with extension agents throughout the farming periods should be adopted. Also, farmers need to be exposed with skills and training on some off farm jobs to raise the farmers’ income to enable them afford more fertiliser.