Abstract
The study examined the influence of oil subsidy removal on farmers' access to inputs and agricultural production in Northern Cross River State, Nigeria. Four research questions guided the study. The population of the study comprised all practicing farmers in Northern Cross River State. The study used simple random and accidental sampling techniques to select 280 farmers. Data were collected with structured questionnaires titled “Subsidy Removal Questionnaire” and was distributed to 280 farmers in the study area. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions. The results revealed that the removal of fuel subsidy has negatively influenced on agricultural production in the study area. The influence includes: increase in transportation cost, increase in the cost of purchasing farm inputs and increase in the cost of farm labour. The results also revealed that farmers can adopt some farming methods such as backyard farming and community farming, organic farming, use of green farming technologies and use of solar power to pump water for irrigation among others. The findings revealed that high cost of transportation affects the price of agricultural inputs and produce. The study concluded that government should give support to farmers in the form of loans, grants and subsidized farm inputs. Also, farmers can mitigate the influence of fuel subsidy removal by adopting farming methods that use renewable energy sources instead of fossil fuel. Therefore; the study recommended that government should support farmers by subsidizing transportation, giving incentives to farmers as well as loans and grants.
Keywords: Oil Subsidy, farmers, Agricultural production, Inputs
Publication Date: 2024-07-03