Post-Harvest Loses and Socioeconomic Sustenance of Yam Farmers in Southern Agricultural Zone of Nasarawa State

Aims: The study determined the effect of post-harvest losses of yam on the socio-economic sustenance of farmers in Nasarawa State Nigeria. It also described the socio-economic status of farmers; determined the average quantities of yam lost for the years in review (2014-2018).

Study Design: The study employed the use of cross sectional design.

Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted in Nasarawa state, Nigeria between October 2019 to June 2020.

Methodology: Using the multistage sampling technique, data for the study were collected from a sample of three hundred and eighty seven (387) respondents.

Results: That majority of the respondents (322) 83%, were male, and within the age range of 31-40 years 158(41%) followed by the age bracket of 41-50: 97(25%); 323(84%) of the respondents were married with average household size of 8.0 persons per household while 87% of the respondents have had one form of formal education or the other.

The Ordinary Least Square result of the effect of postharvest losses on the socioeconomic sustenance of the respondents revealed that the coefficient of simple determination (r2) was 0.850which implies that 85.00% of the variations in the socioeconomic sustenance of the respondents was explained by the independent variable included in the model (post-harvest losses) while 15.00% unexplained was due to error. F-prob. value of 0.0000 was observed from the analysis which is less than 0.05, indicating that the variables included in the estimated regression model were correct and significant at 1% significant level. The coefficient of post-harvest losses with the value of (-4.327) was statistically significant and negatively related to the socioeconomic sustenance of the respondents at 1 percent.

Conclusion: The study concluded that there is a relationship between the post-harvest losses and socioeconomic sustenance of farmers. Therefore, the relevant government and agricultural agencies, Non- Governmental Organizations (NGOs), Community Based Organizations (CBOs) as well as individuals need to strengthen their effort toward reducing post-harvest losses of yam by educating through demonstration and encouraging farmer to use modern technologies and materials in yam storage.