Participation of Small Scale Farmers in Agricultural Insurance Scheme in Lafia Local Government Area of Nasarawa State Nigeria

The study determined the level of participation of small-scale farmers in agricultural insurance scheme in Lafia Local Government Area (LGA) of Nasarawa State. The sampling procedure involved the random selection of six (6) districts out of 13 districts in Lafia LGA and a random selection of fifteen (15) small scale farmers from each of the six selected districts to give a total of ninety (90) respondents. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire. Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics and logistic regression model. The findings revealed that most (57.8%) of the respondents were aged between 21-40 years and a greater proportion (31.11%) of them did not have any formal education while 26% had tertiary level of education. Most (61%) of the farmers were aware of the existence of agricultural insurance scheme but the level of participation in the insurance scheme was very low (36%). The logit regression showed that age, educational level, farm size and access to credit were significant variables that influenced the probability of participation of the farmers in agricultural insurance scheme. About 60% of the variation in the dependent variable was explained by the independent variables. The major factor militating against participation of respondents in agricultural insurance was delay in indemnity payment. The management of National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (NAIS) as well as extension agents should educate the small-scale farmers more on the operations and benefits of insuring their farms.