Livelihood Diversification Strategies : Effects and a Pathway Out of Poverty - Case Study of Farming Households in Crude-Oil Producing Communities of Ondo State Nigeria

High incidence of poverty in the oil-producing areas in Nigeria has been adduced to the intervention of oil exploration of oil spills on agricultural land and incursion into freshwater, leading to depletion in crops and fishes output. This study assesses the effect of this intervention on the profitability of crop-farming and fishing enterprises, measures the level of livelihood diversifications and estimates the effect of livelihood diversifications to non-farm on net income. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected through purposive sampling on polluted and non-polluted areas identified through secondary sources. The result of the analysis indicated that the average gross margin from cropping enterprise in non-polluted is higher by N62,400.93. For fishing enterprise N33,265.56 difference were calculated in polluted over non-polluted areas The estimated farmer that made losses in farming activities in polluted areas is higher by 14.1% than in non-polluted areas. Diversifications to non-farm enterprises were higher in polluted areas by 15.22% in polluted than non-polluted areas. Income from diversification is significant to net income by 57.04% in polluted areas. Thus, suggests that diversification has positive effects on net income. Promoting the development of these identified non-farm enterprises can generate meaningful income and could offer a pathway out of poverty