Assessment of Poverty Status among Maize Farmers in Osogbo Agricultural Development Programme Zone of Osun State

The quantitative determinant of poverty in Nigeria is a basic requisite for poverty reduction strategy and policy
formulation. The paper examined the poverty status of maize farmers in Osogbo Adp zone, using a descriptive
statistics, Foster, Greer and Thorbecke poverty (FGT) indices and logit regression model. The data used were
generated from a survey involving 178 maize farmers which were selected using multistage sampling technique.
The findings revealed that 86% were male, 84.3%, of the respondents were male, married, with mean age of 46.7
years. The mean household size and farm size were 8 percent and1.31 hectares. The study showed that the
respondents’ poverty incidence (Po) was 28%, the poverty depth/gap (P1) was.4% and the poverty severity (P2)
was 0.8%.The result of logit regression model indicated household size is a the major determinants of poverty
among maize farmers. The study concluded that a larger proportion of maize farmers were poor and experienced
some constraints such as high cost of food items and insufficient money to purchase food items due to their poverty
status in the study area. Government should intensify the ongoing poverty alleviation and empowerment programs
in order to reduce poverty among maize farmers in the study area.