Increasing the productivity of maize-based cropping systems has strategic importance for food 

security and socio-economic stability. This study assessed the impact on adoption of improved 

maize varieties on farmers‟ livelihood in Sumaila Local Government Area of Kano State, 

Nigeria. The study examined the socio-economic characteristics of the maize farmers, determined 

adoption rate of improved maize varieties by the farmers, determined the factors influencing 

adoption of improved maize varieties, determined the impact of adoption of improved maize 

varieties on income and livelihood of the adopters and non – adopters and identified the 

constraints encountered by the farmers in the adoption of improved maize varieties. Primary data 

were used for the study. A multi – stage sampling technique was employed in the selection of the 

respondents used for the study. The primary data were collected using structured questionnaire 

administered to 60 farmers. Descriptive statistics, adoption index and t – test were used for the 

analysis of data. The results of the socio-economic characteristics of the farmers revealed that for 

age distribution, 33.3% of the maize farmers were between the ages of 35-44 years, 30.0% were 

between 25-34 years while 20.0% were between 45-54 years and 13.3% were between 55 years 

of age and above. For maize farming experience, 13.3% of maize farmers had 1-5 years, 30% had 

6-10 years and 23.3% had 11-15 years, while 33.3% had 16 years and above. For educational 

status, non-formal education had the highest respondents with 30%, followed by primary level

with 26.7%, tertiary level had 23.3% while secondary level had the least with 20.0%. For farm 

size, 10.0% had farm size of 0.25 hectares, 23.3% had 0.5 hectares and 20% had 2 acres while 

46.7% had above 1 hectare. For method of land acquisition, 66.7% of the farmers in the study 

areas respectively acquired their land through inheritance, 30.0% farmers acquired land through 

purchase while only 3.3% farmers leased/rented land for production purpose. For cooperative 

membership, 70% of respondents did not participate in any Cooperative Association while 30% 

participated as cooperatives members. The constraints to adoption of improved maize varieties in 

the study area were identified by the respondents, in order of their severity as first unavailability 

of improved seeds 46.7%, high fertilizer demand of IMV 20.0% was second, then high cost of 

improved seeds as the third constraint had 16.7%, awareness of seed classes 13.3% was the 

fourth and small size of landholding ranked the least (3.3%). The mean annual income of the 

adopters of improved maize varieties (N 184,200) is higher than the mean income of the non –

adopters (N 54,750) (p<0.05) which implies that after the adoption of improved maize varieties 

farmers realized higher income and yield. Thus, it is recommended that adoption of improved 

maize varieties should be enhanced through the increased availability of improved maize 

varieties as some farmers are very much interested in cultivating these varieties but do not have 

access to them. The government and other Non-Governmental Organization (NGOs) should 

do their part in creating awareness via radio and phone messages to facilitate the access and 

mobilize farmers to adopt the improved varieties so that farmers can improve their agricultural 

productivity and then improve their livelihood.

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