CONSTRAINTS TO INCREASED FOOD PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION IN DUKKU L.G. A. GOMBE STATE, NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

Agriculture plays a significant role in the process of economic growth and development of Nigeria. It contributes greatly to the provision of food and raw industrial materials. Increased food production and distribution has been a significant challenge in most of the developing countries of the world. In Nigeria, several rural communities in most of the states, Northern Nigeria in particular are faced with this problem. The situation in Dukku Local Government Area of Gombe state is not an exception as food production and distribution in the area has been hampered with a lot of challenges. The study examines the constraints to increased food production and distribution in Dukku L.G.A. A total of 150 copies of questionnaires were administered to purposively sampled population of food crop farmers in six political wards. Systematic sampling technique was employed whereby the first household on every identified street was selected and the interval of ten (10th) household was taken to form the nthwhere the questionnaire was administered. Both primary and secondary source of data were used to collect the data for the research. Chi square (x2) was adopted to test the research hypothesis. The result shows that majority of the farmers in the study area encountered problems in food production and distribution which include: inadequate fertilizer, poor market price, poor transportation system and storage facilities. The study recommended that government should improve the supply of fertilizers and other inputs at a subsidised rates to farmers and establish an extension program in which the farmers will gain knowledge on agriculture as well as improve on the transportation system and market efficiency.

Keywords: Agriculture, Constraints, Distribution, Food and Production.