Perception of Inter-generational Farm Transfer among Cocoa Farmers in South-west, Nigeria

Inter-generational farm transfer, a multifaceted process involving succession plan, retirement and inheritance has been recognized as the main and major approach to overcome the issues of ageing population and family farm sustainability. The study therefore focused on the perception of inter-generational farm transfer by cocoa farmers in South-west, Nigeria. A multistage sampling procedure was used to select 331 cocoa farmers. The data was collected through interviewer administered questionnaire and analyzed using percentage, frequency distribution, means, charts and chi square. Results showed that majority of the respondents were male (77.0%), having farm size of 5 ha and below, the mean age of the respondents was 58 years while the mean household size was 6. The result showed that 77.0% of the respondents have not retired from active involvement on cocoa farm while 83.0% of the have not identified a successor. The result further shows that 85.0% of the respondents have high (positive) perception of inter-generational transfer. Moreover, only few of the respondents (5.4%) had a formal or written inter-generational farm transfer plan. The study concluded that majority of the cocoa farmers have not retired from the farm and had positive perception of inter-generational farm transfer. The study recommended that cocoa farmers should start planning for inter-generational farm transfer early by selecting and grooming selected individuals in their family. Moreover, relevant stakeholders should create more awareness and orientate cocoa farmers on the importance and need to identify and engage possible successors early in order to ensure family farm sustainability and food security.