IMPACT OF THE NATIONAL FADAMA III PROJECT ON FARMERS’ INCOME IN NASARAWA STATE, NIGERIA

This study was conducted to determine the impact of the Fadama III project on the income of its beneficiaries after three years of implementation using a sample of 232 households. The data was analyzed using the Heckman’s difference-in-difference methodology. The result shows that impact of Fadama III on crop productivity was remarkable. The target of 20% increase in productivity was attained by all benecifiaries and across all income terciles. The male beneficiaries exceeded the target by about 17% compared to the female beneficiaries that were 5% below the target. The impact on Livestock productivity was generally weak. An increase of 2.6% in income from Livestock was observed, compared to the 20% target expected. The impact was higher and significant at both 5% and 10%among the female beneficiaries compared to the male beneficiaries. On the average, the agricultural income of beneficiaries increased by 7%. As expected, Fadama III had an impact on non-farm income for all beneficiaries. However, this was not statistically significant. A 21% increase in non-farm income due to participation in Fadama III was recorded. The impact on income from non-farm activities was higher for female than for the male beneficiaries. There was a significant increase of 23% in household income at (p