The effectiveness of traditional methods of capital formation in the development of peasant agriculture: Acase study of selected villages in Etche Local Government of Rivers State, Nigeria

Abstract

The Local Government Area of Rivers State has about 80% of their entire population dependent on the utilization of the natural resources of land for their development.  But up till today most of the rural farmers still produce at subsistence level and not enough to sell to generate a reasonable income for other demands of the families as well as re-investment in agriculture.  This study therefore was specifically carried out to identify the effectiveness of traditional methods of capital formation in the development of peasant agriculture in selected villages of Etche Local Government Area of Rivers State.  In carrying out the research, a total of (150) peasant farmers one hundred and fifty peasant farmers were chosen from ten (10) selected villages.  Fifteen (15) peasant farmers were randomly selected from each of the selected villages, using simple random sampling method.  The method of data collection was personal interview method using structural questionnaire.  The findings highlighted different sources of capital formation such as, money lenders, personal savings, Esusu clubs, Commercial Banks and friends/well-wishers-(cash sources).  Other sources in kind include land uses, livestock supply, labour supply, age group farming, and women association group farming (others).  Results showed that traditional methods of capital formation ranked highest in degree of effectiveness in land lease, livestock supply in kind and personal savings and Esusu clubs in cash in the development of peasant agriculture in the area of study.