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
