Does social network affect farm income and poverty status? Empirical evidence from farming households in Osun State, Nigeria

The agricultural sector has a multiplier effect on any nation's socio-economic and industrial framework as a result of the multidimensional nature of agriculture. The first and second goal of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targets no poverty and zero hunger and so, this study examined the impact of social network on farm income and poverty status among farming households in Osun State, Nigeria. Membership of farmers’ association is used as a proxy to social network in this paper. Multistage sampling procedure was used to select 379 respondents. Endogenous Switching Regression Model and Recursive Bivariate Probit Model were used to carry out the impact analysis. The empirical findings revealed that years of education, household size, farm size, farming as major occupation, farming experience and land management practice significantly influenced social network (membership of farmers’ association). Furthermore, social network (membership of farmers’ association) increased farm income and reduced poverty status of farming households in Osun State. Conclusively, social network is established to improve farm income while reducing poverty status. Therefore, establishment of more farmers’ association should be encouraged so as to improve the economic status of the farmers and invariably enhance their food security status.