AGRICULTURAL INSURANCE AND FARMING SYSTEM IN EKITI STATE, NIGERIA:-A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

Abstract

A comparative study of Insured and uninsured farmers was carried out to affirm the effectiveness or otherwise of Agricultural insurance scheme on farming system in Ekiti State, Nigeria. Both purposive and randomized sampling techniques were used to select seventy five (75) insured and seventy five (75) uninsured farmers used for the study. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Probit regression model. The result of the analysis revealed that majority of the respondents was young male farmers and married with an average family size of six members. They are highly experienced farmers. The Probit regression analysis showed that level of education, farming experience and mode of farming all significantly correlated with the adoption of agricultural insurance policy by farmers. The findings affirmed that agricultural insurance improves agricultural productivity thereby improve the standard of living of the farmers in Ekiti State and it was recommended that government should indemnify the farmers affected by natural disasters and hazards promptly and timely so that the purpose of adopting insurance is achieved. The result of the t-test shows that there is a significant difference between the insured respondents and the uninsured respondents according to their response to risk, production practices used on the farm and the farm output.