Influence of socio-economic characteristics on participation in Fadama II project in Ekiti local government are, Kwara State in Nigeria

This study was carried out to determine the influence of socio – economic characteristics on farmers’ level of participation in Fadama II. A multi-stage sampling procedure was adopted to select 244 respondents from all the wards in Ekiti Local Government Area (L. G. A). Validated structured interview schedule was used to collect relevant information from the respondents. Descriptive statistical tools such as frequency, percentage and mean were used to analyze the data, while Pearson Product Moment correlation (PPMC) was used to test the hypothesis. Results showed that about (71.0 %) of the respondents were between the age range of 41 and 50 years, male (71.0%), female (29%) and also the findings revealed that most of the farmers participated in formation of Fadama User Group (FUG) and payment of charges in establishment of Fadama Community Association (FCA) which ranked highest with (WMS =2.30). Majority of the respondents (72.5%) participated in the project at moderate level. Payment of counterpart fund by the participants was found to be a major constraint in participating in Fadama II project in the study area. A positive and significant relationship exists between socio-economic characteristics such as age (r = 0.114, p- =0.076), Household size (r = 0.219** p= 0.001), years of schooling (r =- 0.205**), p=0.001) as well as farms size (r =0.018** p=0.779), and level of participation in Fadama II project. Socio-economic characteristics influence participation in Fadama II project. Rural farmers should be strengthened along with their significant variables in order to encourage more participation to ensure continuity and sustainability of the project.