Household Poverty Measurement and Its Determinants Among Rural Farmers in Ondo State, Nigeria

Achieving the objectives of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations is the focus of all heads of government in the world, the priority being to eradicate poverty in all its forms everywhere. Hence, this study measured poverty among rural farming households in Ondo State, Nigeria, to ascertain the current poverty status of farmers in the state, with the aim of highlighting the rural economy as a focus for policymakers in the implementation of the SDGs. A multistage sampling procedure was used to select 90 farming household heads. The mean annual per capita expenditure was N74, 336.61 while the annual poverty line was N49, 557.74. About 49 percent of the rural farming households fell below the poverty line, while the poverty gap, estimated at about 17 percent of the poverty line, indicates that on average, each farming household will need to spend at least N58, 973.71 to be considered non-poor, which means age, marital status, household size, other occupation, and working members reduce the probability of the poor households moving out of poverty, while gender, farming experience, years of education, and total income increase the probability of the poor households moving out of poverty. Total income is the most significant determinant factor at 1 percent, while age, years of education, household size, and years of farm experience were significant at 5 percent. The study, therefore, recommends a holistic commercial agricultural policy that will be rational, national, rural-driven, and credit-inclined and that can guarantee the required income majorly through farming.