Income Inequality Among Arable Crop Farming Households In Rural And Urban Areas Of Ekiti State, Nigeria

This study assessed the level of income inequality among arable crop farming households in rural and urban areas of Ekiti State, Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling technique was used for data collection. Descriptive statistics, gross margin analysis, Gini coefficient, decomposition based on Gini-coefficient and regression analyses were used to analyze the data from the field survey. The study revealed that over 50 percent of the respondents in both rural and urban areas are males and are married. Gini-coefficients of 0.536 and 0.180 for rural and urban areas respectively suggest that income inequality was higher among arable crop farmers in the rural areas than in the urban areas of the study area. With an average total income of N466, 552 per annum, it was concluded that income level of rural arable crop farm households is lower than that of their counterparts in the urban areas. Income from rice and maize production accounted for the largest share of total agricultural income in the rural areas with 32.2% and 30.1% respectively and contributed 21% and 22.8% respectively to total income inequality, implying that income from rice and maize production possess some potential for reducing income inequality in rural areas. It was however recommended that agricultural activities should be promoted among rural households in Nigeria. Policy makers should concentrate on measures to increase agricultural productivity through targeted efforts such as making mechanization facilities available to the rural arable crop farmers. Similarly, increased farm size and mixed cropping system should be encouraged to further help in increasing the income of the arable crop farm households in rural and urban of Ekiti State, Nigeria.