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Despite the lucrative and profitability of pig business, there seems to be paucity of data on pork-based agribusiness in Ebonyi State. To address the problem, the study described the socioeconomic characteristics of pork investors; characterized the pork-based agribusiness; analysed the factors influencing investment in pork agribusiness, determined the costs and returns to pork-based agribusiness; and analysed the constraints to pork agribusiness in the area. A multistage sampling technique involving 2 stages was employed in the selection of pork-based agribusiness investors. Data were collected using structured questionnaire which was administered as interview schedule. Data collected were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Result of the analysis shows that about 84% of the pork-based agribusiness investors were males with an average age of 31 years of which about 61.3% completed tertiary education and earned an average annual income of eight hundred and ninety-eight thousand, four hundred and sixty-two naira (₦898,462). The result further showed that cost of labour, amount realized per month, cost of investment, favourable government policy, low taxation, high nutritive value of pork, pork production experience, increase in demand for pork, and source of self-employment were identified as factors influencing pork-based agribusiness investment. Pork-based agribusiness investment is viable as evidenced from the return on investment (ROI) of N1.37. Investment in pork-based agribusiness is constrained by socio-economic, institutional, social/technological and economic/ infrastructural factors. Based on the findings, the study recommends formation of cooperative society among pig farmers in other to bridge the gap of insufficient credit for business expansion. There is also need for investment in research for the development of innovations that will mitigate disease infestation, increase the shelf life of fresh port and improved storage facilities for enhanced investment in pork business.

Smallholder farmer’s repayment of Bank of Agriculture (BOA) loan in Ezza South Local Government Area of Ebonyi State was studied using 120 smallholder farmer beneficiaries selected using multistage sampling technique. Data were collected from primary source only using structured questionnaire and analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Results showed default of 32.3% as out of N333, 997,620.50 were disbursed to the farmers a total of N226, 080,887.00 were repaid. However, the socioeconomic characteristics of the loan beneficiaries contributed about 75 % (R2 = 0.754) significant influence on repayment of Bank of Agriculture loan. Meanwhile, high interest rate, excessive bureaucracy, high rate of illiteracy, late approval of loan, lack of collateral, short payback period, and low farm output were identified as the major constraints to the repayment of BOA loan. It is recommended that as a measure to promote efficient and timely repayment of BOA loans by the farmers, management of BOA should address the institutional factors such as high interest rate, excessive bureaucracy and late approval of loan, high-value collateral and short payback period that were identified as the major constraints to BOA loan repayment.

The study analyzed the effects of seasonal market price variation on behaviour of fruits and vegetables consumers in Abakaliki metropolis, Ebonyi State, Nigeria. Ninety consumers of fruits and vegetables were randomly selected. Data were collected with the aid of well structured questionnaire and analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The result showed that majority (74.4%) of the consumers of fruits and vegetables in the area were females with a mean age and household size of 46 years and 7 persons respectively. Majority of the consumers (74.4%) were married with average annual income of N155,600. Predominant fruits consumed in the area include; banana (97.7%), mango (91.11%) and orange (90%). The factors that influenced price and seasonality of fruits and vegetables in the area were: need for product (3.8) and product availability (3.71), among others. The major coping strategies of consumers to the price and seasonal variation in fruits and vegetables include; in-house fruits and vegetables gardening (3.6), and adoption of strong pricing strategy (3.5) among others. However, age and household size were found to have significantly influenced the quantity demanded for fruit and vegetables at 5% level each and annual income at 1% level. The study therefore, calls for policies aimed at regulation of price and seasonality of fruits and vegetables using pricing policy and irrigation to stabilize production and consumption.

Despite increasing discourse about the potentials and impacts of urban agriculture to households’ food security status in urban centres, it seems there is little or no empirical evidence on the contributions of homestead agriculture to food security of urban households in Abakaliki metropolis of Ebonyi State, Nigeria. Consequently, this employed combination of multistage random and purposive sampling techniques, comprised 120 respondents to assess this study. Primary data used for the study were collected with the aid of structured questionnaire that was administered to sampled respondents. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used for the study in accordance with the specific objectives. The result revealed that homestead farmers in Abakaliki metropolis engaged mainly in the production of five classes of food crops and livestock, namely; leave vegetables such as ugu (87.5), spinach (71.7%) and bitter leaf (65.8%); roots and tube; (cassava (66.7%) and yam 54.2%)); cereal (maize (60.8%), spice (pepper, 58.3%) and livestock (poultry, 52.5%). The study identified food security, economic security and nutritional security as the three (3) major factors that influenced homestead agriculture in Abakaliki metropolis. The food security index showed that 52.5% of the urban households were food secure while 47.5% of them were food insecure. Institutional, tenureship and economic factors were identified and extracted as the constraints to homestead agriculture. The study recommended the creation of urban farm estate to encourage residents to have access to land for urban agriculture at a reduced rate; and development of all-inclusive programmes that will enhance urban farmers’ access to production inputs and advisory services.Keywords: Food crops, Livestock, Food Security, and homestead farmers