Contribution of Indigenous Vegetables and Fruits to Poverty Alleviation in Oyo State, Nigeria

This study examines the contribution of indigenous vegetables and fruits to poverty alleviation in south Oyo State, Nigeria. The personal characteristics of the farmers were identified, use of indigenous vegetables and fruits ascertained and contribution to poverty reduction determined. Five villages were purposively selected due to concentration of indigenous vegetables and fruits and from each of the 5 villages, 20 households were randomly selected to give a total sample size of 100 households. Data were collected from primary source through the use of interview schedule based on structured questionnaire and analyzed with SPSS version 17 using frequency counts, and percentages. The results show that majority of the farmers were male (76%), above 40 years of age (58%) married (60%) with no formal education (53%) and having family size of 5 to 10 persons (44%). The most available crops are mushroom (92%), ocimum gratissium(88%) and Bush mango (80%). Mushroom (80%) is the most used plant for food, Momordica charantia for medicinal use (50%) and Calotropis procera(84%)was widely used for animal feed. Also, the most notable crops that generate income to farmers are Vitex doniana(92%); Calotropis procera(89%) and Phaseolus lunatus(80%). Many (40%) of the farmers were in the income category of N 5000 - N 10 000. It is noteworthy, however, that for all income categories, the least proportion of contribution by indigenous vegetables and fruits was 25 percent.