Impact of National Special Programme for Food Security on Poverty Alleviation Among Women in Oyo State, Nigeria

The study investigated the impact of National Special Programme for Food Security (NSPFS) on poverty alleviation among women in the three project sites of Oyo State, Nigeria. Purposive sampling technique was used to select 166 participants from the sites of the programme while Systematic sampling technique was used to select 110 non- participants from the list of the farmers provided by the Agricultural Development Programme (ADP) officials in Oyo State. A structured interview schedule was used to gather information from the respondents. Data collected were collated and subjected to both descriptive and inferential statistics such as frequency counts, percentages, Tobit regression estimates, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and t-test. Results of data analysis revealed that most (39.8%) of the women participants are middle aged and still active in agricultural production. In addition, majority (60.2%) of the participants were literate and participated more in cassava and maize production.

The estimates of Tobit regression analysis showed that a significant relationship exists between respondents’ output (–0.0000344, p<0.01), participation level (–0.0377, p<0.01), marital status (0.3722, p<0.05) and poverty alleviation through the programme. However, the effects of marginal changes of Tobit regression analysis showed that poverty was significantly reduced by increased output (–0.13) and participation level (−2.49). ANOVA results showed that significant difference exists between the present and previous condition of living of participants (F ratio = 56.90) at 0.05 level significance. The t-test result revealed that significant increases were found in the farm size, output and income of participants after the programme (calculated t ratios of 4.77, 10.83 and 19.64 respectively). This means the programme has impacted positively on the participants especially in the are and Agricultural production.

The study concluded that women participation in NSPFS programme actually reduced poverty level and significantly contributed to food security. This has given them more access to production credit and other specific benefits. It has increased their output, improved their living condition and finally had positive impact on their poverty condition. It was recommended that the programme should have more sites and participants so as to better raise their output, income and size of farm.