Impact of Olam Out-grower Programme on Rice Farming in

The research assesses the impact of Olam Out-Grower programme on rice farming to help improve rice production in Benue State. A sample size of 184 rice farmers comprising of 116 participating and 68 non-participating rice farmers of the programme was randomly selected. Using a ‘before’ and ‘during’ project approach the study has determined the change in farm yield, farm size under rice cultivation and income of rice farmers. The results reveal that there is 82.25% increase in land under rice cultivation while, the change in yield per hectare is 30.58% and the average income of rice farmers has improved by 60.95% in the area. The Coefficient of determination (R2) of productivity level by Olam Out-Grower intervention is 0.812 with improved seeds and the farm hecterage as the most significant predictors of the productivity achieved by participating rice farmers. Value chain analysis of the produced rice indicates that farmers’ earn only 10.04% of the total value, the large processors (including Olam Out-Grower) 40.64%, intermediaries (20.64%), small scale processors (6.98%) and exporters (21.65%).