Factors Affecting Willingness to Trade Yam in Nigeria

The study examined the socio-economic characteristics of yam producers in Oyo State, Nigeria, analyzed farmers' willingness to adopt improved yam technology and trade yam products in the study area. A multistage random sampling procedure was used to collect primary data from 100 farmers in the study area. The analytical techniques employed were descriptive statistics and probit model. The results showed that there were more male yam farmers (95%) than female yam farmers and majority were old. Most of the respondents had farming experience; majority had other occupation for example civil servants. Most of the farmers were aware of the improved techniques, some adopted and some were reluctant. The result also showed that an increase in the farmer's perception of improved income will result in an increase in the willingness to adopt improved yam technology. Farmer's age, farming experience and household size were negatively significant. Increase in age tends to reduce farmers productivity due to loss of strength as the farmer grows hold, younger farmers should therefore be the target. Also, increase in educational level had negative effect on willingness to adopt improved yam techn