IMPACT OF REUSERBLE PLASTICS CRATE TECHNOLOGY ON THE POSTHARVEST LOSSES AND LIVELIHOOD STATUS OF FADAMA III TOMATO FARMERS IN KANO STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study assessed the impact of RPCs technologies on post-harvest losses and livelihood status of fadama III Tomato Farmers in Kano State, Nigeria. Multi stage sampling procedure were used for the study and primary data were collected from a sample of three hundred and twelve (312) smallholder tomato farmers using structured questionnaire. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as frequency and percentage, minimum, mean, maximum and standard and inferential statistics such as Propensity Score Matching (PSM). Result of the study showed that tomato production is dominated among young active (41 years), male (99.4%) people who were married (89.4%) and attended more of western formal education (74.7%). Findings of the study revealed that 63.78% of the smallholder tomato farmers were using TWBs to store their tomatoes. The remaining 36.22% were using RPCs to store their tomato fruit in the study area. Estimated average treatment effect indicated that the quantity of post-harvest tomato losses of RPCs technology users decreases with an average quantity of -3881.07 kg to -4141.83 kg depending on matching algorism. The result further revealed that adoption of RPCs technology affects the livelihood status of tomato farmers to increase with an average value of 0.047 to 0.057 depending on matching algorism when RPCs technology was used in the study area. The study recommended that rural development policies should be put in place to promote awareness about the impact of RPCs technology on the livelihood improvement among women using capacity building training.