Paddy Production Systems and Carbon Footprint: An Economic Profitability Analysis

Kebbi State is one of fifteen states targeted by the Rice Transformation Agenda (ATA) of the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) in which rain-fed and irrigated lowland rice production systems were the main priority.  This study sets to determine the economic benefit of paddy production systems found in the State. The Ex-Ante Carbon-balance Tool (EX-ACT) was used in estimating the carbon balances of rice production systems while the Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) was used in estimating the economic benefit of the systems. The result of the EX-ACT shows that the carbon balances for all production systems were positive. This implies that in all the systems, more carbon is emitted than sequestered hence the values are costs to the society. The irrigation system recorded the highest value of net Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emission. This may be due to the use of fuel-powered irrigation technologies and higher amounts of inputs such as fertilizer. The results of the analyses show that upland and lowland rain-fed systems recorded positive values of net farm income while the irrigation and fadama systems had negative values indicating economic inefficiency. The study recommends that the focus should be on increased adoption of improved technologies and production practices for the irrigation and fadama systems to reduce environmental effects and to achieve a comparative advantage.