Abstract
The paper examined the challenges which face the farm families in
agricultural production and suggested mechanisms for empowering the
farm families to improve their agricultural productivity. Many factors
hider the progress of farmers in food production which include adaptation
to climate change issues like flooding, high rate of inflation, high cost of
farm inputs, insecurity and corruption challenges. Unfortunately, many
farmers find it difficult to grapple with the problems of food insecurity
caused by some obvious challenges. The farmers therefore need to be
empowered to enable them solve the problem of food production
especially in Cross River state where flooding, insecurity of lives and other
challenges make farmers not to do their best in food production. The paper
therefore examined some factors which affect the farm families in
agricultural production and ways of empowering the farmers to improve
agricultural productivity in Cross River state, Nigeria. Conclusions were
reached that the problem of food insecurity could be addressed if the
farmers are empowered and obstacles that hinder the farmers’ food
production removed. Based on the conclusions, some recommendations
were made; one of which is that farmers should be encouraged to form
association-based co-operatives on their value chain and geographical
location to enable them channel their problems collectively as a group for
easy recognition by the government and her agencies.