Certificate as reviewer
Abstract
Add a little problematic to support the research objectives. The study analyzed effects of Anchor
Borrowers Programme on rice farming in Benue State, Nigeria. Multi-stage sampling technique
was used to select 125 beneficiary rice farmers of the anchor borrowers’ programme. Data were
collected using structured questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive statistics, multiple
regression analysis and factor analysis. The results from the multiple regression analysis revealed
that productivity of beneficiary rice farmers was positively and significantly determined by farm
size at P≤ 0.01 but negatively influenced by seed and fertilizer at P≤0.01 and P≤ 0.05 levels. The
R
2
of 0.43 implies that 43% of the variability in rice productivity was accounted for by
explanatory variables included in the model. The result of the amount of credit/inputs and mode
of loan repayment revealed that beneficiary rice farmers in the study area had mostly from the
programme received N50, 000.00 and paid back their loan mostly as part-payment in cash.
Certain limited factors such as Socio-economic factors, Economic factors and Institutional
factors had constrained farmers’ access to credit and other inputs from the programme. It was
concluded that rice production by the beneficiary rice farmers in the study area was not optimally
productive. The study recommended that farmers should be advised to expand their farm lands to
ensure efficient utilization of resources for increased productivity. Also, policies that will make
credit accessible to farmers will go a long way in addressing their inefficiency problems.