Linkage Effects of Rural Non-Farm Income Diversification on Poverty Reduction among Farm Households in Southeast, Nigeria

The incidence of poverty in rural communities of Nigeria like many other African countries is very severe and breaking the incidence requires diversification into non-farm activities which no documented empirical records seems to exist in Southeast Nigeria. In addressing the problem, the study measured the poverty status of the rural farm households, determined the effect of non-farm income diversification on the poverty reduction level of the rural farm households, and determined the linkage effect of non-farm income activities of the rural farm households on total household income. The study employed a combination of multistage and purposive sampling techniques in the selection of 360 rural farm households. Foster Greer Thorbecke (FGT) poverty index was used to realise objective (i) which allow for the quantitative measurement of poverty status, while objectives (ii) and (iii) were realised using simple regression analysis. The result revealed that 50.6 percent of the rural farm households were actually poor while about 33.4 percent were far from the poverty line. Again, the severity of poverty among the poor farmers in the Southeast, Nigeria was 11.3 percent. Again, the Herfindal Index revealed that diversification has resulted to 66 % increase in rural farm household income. Similarly, non-farm income has a positive effect on poverty reduction level of farm households in Southeast, Nigeria as it accounts for 62 % of the total household income. Based on the findings, the study recommended for total diversification of the rural farm households so as increase their income and break the vicious circle of poverty.