Soybean Production and Poverty Alleviation in Rural Conflict-Affected Communities of Plateau State, Nigeria

Abstract

Poverty is a significant livelihood concern for many rural households in the conflict-affected communities of Nigeria. This study examined how soybean farming affects poverty reduction among smallholder farmers in Mangu and Bokkos Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Plateau State. The number of smallholder farmers was 337, who were selected based on convenience sampling. A quantitative approach was used, employing descriptive statistics, Foster–Greer–Thorbecke (FGT) poverty measures and multiple regression analysis. The FGT results indicate that 33.5% of the sampled households were poor, with a poverty gap of 0.04 and poverty severity of 0.01. The results of the regression show that soybean production, farm size and credit access positively and significantly influence household income, while formal education (number of years) has no statistically significant impact. The results indicate that proper access to productive resources and markets could generate positive contributions to poverty reduction in soybean production. The research suggests that expansion of farmers' credit, better access to land, better extension services, practical training with farmers, and more membership in farmers' associations are needed.