Abstract

*O. E. Ayinde, O. A. Omotesho and M. O. Adewumi

The risk attitude of small-scale crop producers in kwara State, Nigeria was examined. The study ranked the risk preference and management strategies of small-scale crop producer in the study area. A three – stage stratified random sampling was used to draw a sample of 250 crop producers from the four agro-ecological zones in Kwara State. Well structured questionnaires were used to obtain information from selected crop producers. Descriptive analysis, Paired Comparison Method and Least Significance Difference were used to analysis the data. The results show that farming households in the study area placed different preference on the risk attitude namely risk taking, risk neutral and risk averse. The households mostly employed crop diversification and least employed insurance as their risk management strategy. To this end, programmes and policies for small scale farmers should incorporate their risk preference for the possibility of producing the desired effect and improve the efficiency of crop management and production.