Exploring the Link between Land Fragmentation and Agricultural Productivity

The traditional land tenure system in Nigeria coupled with increasing population encourages land fragmentation with attendant consequences for agricultural productivity and commercialization. This study quantified the degree of land fragmentation and its consequences on arable food production. The study makes use of data from 125 farm households spread across the 12 communities in Umuahia-North Local Government Area (LGA) of Abia State, Nigeria. Using Janusezwski index, the study quantified the degree of land fragmentation. The Cobb-Douglas (CD) and the Generalized Linear Model (GLM) were used in exploring the impact of land fragmentation on arable crop productivity. The mean fragmentation index is 0.55 with a variance of 0.02. The average farm size cultivated is 2.68 hectares. Majority of the households (71 percent) clustered around the mean fragmentation index. The results of the CD and GLM show the negative impact of land fragmentation on agricultural productivity. Labour in the CD model remained the single most important factor of increasing productivity. The GLM show that cultivating farms further away from the homestead will lead to higher productivity. The study recommends cooperative farming to enable the farmers to adopt productivity improving farm technologies.