Socio-economic and cultural factors associated with farmers’ use of sustainable land management practices in Ondo State

Abstract

This study examined the socio-economic and cultural factors associated with farmers' use of sustainable land management practices in Ondo State, Nigeria. A multistage random sampling technique was used to select 320 crop farmers for the study. The results showed that majority (78.7%) of the sampled farmers were male while 67.5 % were married with children. Large proportion (81.8%) of the respondents fall within the ages of 35-49 years, and majority (82.5%) of them were Yoruba. The educational background showed that 75.3% had one form of education or the other and over half (55.4%) of the farmers belonged to one group or the other. The results showed that 91.6% of the respondents were aware of the sustainable land management practices while only (8.4%) were not aware of the sustainable land management practices. Inferential statistical results indicate that there was significant relationship between farmers' use of sustainable land management practices and their educational level (3² = 15.31; p =0.05) and government policies (3²15.54; p<0.05). Also, age (r= -0.56 p <0.05); farmers' income (r= 0.19, p <0.05); farm size (r = 0.37; P <0.05) among other variables have significant relationship with the use of sustainable land management practices. The study concluded that in planning and formulating development programmes for sustainable land management practices, socio-economic and cultural framework within the programmes must be put into consideration.