Economic Impact Assessment of the National Fadama Development Project on Rural Farming Communities in Niger State of Nigeria

Abstract

The chapter tested the hypotheses that the National Fadama Development Project had no significant effect on the income of Fadama farmers and that there is no difference in the profit of sugar cane and rice, the two major crops cultivated in the project. Primary data were collected in 2007 through the use of questionnaire randomly administered to 150 farmers in Niger state who are Fadama beneficiaries. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, and gross margin analysis. The results of the study showed that sugar cane gave the highest gross margin of N93,460 and rice with a gross margin of N 51,051 gave the highest return per Naira invested of 1.77. The study showed that the difference between the pre-project and post-project income was insignificant at 5%. Scarcity of production inputs and the attendant environmental degradation were the constraints experienced in the project. The chapter concludes that Fadama projects positively impacted on beneficiaries by sustainably increasing farm income. The chapter recommends that the National Fadama Development Project should make timely provision of subsidized production inputs.