The study assessed the entrepreneurial behaviour of smallholder cassava farmers in Ebonyi State, ... more The study assessed the entrepreneurial behaviour of smallholder cassava farmers in Ebonyi State, Nigeria. Multistage sampling technique was employed in the selection of 108 cassava farmers across the agricultural zones in Ebonyi state using pretested and structured questionnaire from which data and information were elicited. Analytically, the study employed entrepreneurial behavioural index (EBI) in the assessment of entrepreneurial behaviour of the cassava farmers. The result showed that the overall entrepreneurial behaviour of the cassava farmers posted a mean value of 0.4529 on a range of 0.17 – 0.70. This implies that their minimum entrepreneurial behaviour indicates gross underutilization of entrepreneurial attributes by the farmers while the maximum shows reasonable utilization of entrepreneurial capacity. The study concluded that aggressive agricultural transformation to enhance food security in Nigeria is feasible with effective management of human as well as material resources by promoting entrepreneurial behaviour of farmers. The study therefore recommends amongst others that government at all levels needs to deepen its educational and policy support to farmers through total overhauling of activities/programmes to activate their creativity.
The study examined the degree of market power in the export demand for Nigerian Cocoa with focus ... more The study examined the degree of market power in the export demand for Nigerian Cocoa with focus on the Dutch Market. The study covered the periods of 1961–2007 and data comprised published national aggregates on specific trade and macroeconomic variables from reputable sources. Two Stage Least Squares (2 SLS) approach was used in the estimation after instrumenting for simultaneity and establishing stationarity alongside cointegration relationship. Findings, on the demand side, showed that the demand for cocoa increases as income of Netherlands (importing country) increases. Total production of the non–participating countries traced out a positive relationship with demand for cocoa by the importing country while the coefficient of price of Coffee (substitute crop) possessed a negative sign. On the supply relation side, the demand for the export crop has a negative sign, indicating decreasing marginal output with respect to cost while the proxy for ocean freight rate with its negative sign, imply increasing export cost. The result further showed that there is relative competitiveness in the Dutch market on the strength of a market power coefficient -0.712 with a Lerner index of 0.122. Based on the findings, the study calls for government intervention in the agricultural export subsector with the aim to revitalize the country’s agricultural export capacity and enhance her market power via increased market shares. These interventions could be in the form of input/production subsidies, targeted export promotion programs, farm settlement, expanded export processing zones to mention but a few.
The study assessed the entrepreneurial behaviour of smallholder cassava farmers in Ebonyi State, ... more The study assessed the entrepreneurial behaviour of smallholder cassava farmers in Ebonyi State, Nigeria. Multistage sampling technique was employed in the selection of 108 cassava farmers across the agricultural zones in Ebonyi state using pretested and structured questionnaire from which data and information were elicited. Analytically, the study employed entrepreneurial behavioural index (EBI) in the assessment of entrepreneurial behaviour of the cassava farmers. The result showed that the overall entrepreneurial behaviour of the cassava farmers posted a mean value of 0.4529 on a range of 0.17 – 0.70. This implies that their minimum entrepreneurial behaviour indicates gross underutilization of entrepreneurial attributes by the farmers while the maximum shows reasonable utilization of entrepreneurial capacity. The study concluded that aggressive agricultural transformation to enhance food security in Nigeria is feasible with effective management of human as well as material resources by promoting entrepreneurial behaviour of farmers. The study therefore recommends amongst others that government at all levels needs to deepen its educational and policy support to farmers through total overhauling of activities/programmes to activate their creativity.
The study examined the degree of market power in the export demand for Nigerian Cocoa with focus ... more The study examined the degree of market power in the export demand for Nigerian Cocoa with focus on the Dutch Market. The study covered the periods of 1961–2007 and data comprised published national aggregates on specific trade and macroeconomic variables from reputable sources. Two Stage Least Squares (2 SLS) approach was used in the estimation after instrumenting for simultaneity and establishing stationarity alongside cointegration relationship. Findings, on the demand side, showed that the demand for cocoa increases as income of Netherlands (importing country) increases. Total production of the non–participating countries traced out a positive relationship with demand for cocoa by the importing country while the coefficient of price of Coffee (substitute crop) possessed a negative sign. On the supply relation side, the demand for the export crop has a negative sign, indicating decreasing marginal output with respect to cost while the proxy for ocean freight rate with its negative sign, imply increasing export cost. The result further showed that there is relative competitiveness in the Dutch market on the strength of a market power coefficient -0.712 with a Lerner index of 0.122. Based on the findings, the study calls for government intervention in the agricultural export subsector with the aim to revitalize the country’s agricultural export capacity and enhance her market power via increased market shares. These interventions could be in the form of input/production subsidies, targeted export promotion programs, farm settlement, expanded export processing zones to mention but a few.
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