Abstract

This study seeks to establish the factors that determine farmers’ willingness to pay for soil management information service in Benue State, Nigeria and test the hypothesis that socio-economic factors do not have significant effect on soil conservation practices. A multistage cluster sampling technique was used to select 120 farmers from the three agricultural zones in the state. Logit regression model and contingent valuation method (CVM) were employed in holistically eliciting farmers’ preference for soil management information in the study. Results of the logit analysis indicate that, the probability of farmers’ willingness to pay (WTP) is 1.99 much higher than that of farmers not willing to pay (1.10). The study recommends the documentation and dissemination of indigenous knowledge on soil conservation in the study area.

Key words: Soil management, conservation practice, willingness to pay, soil degradation.