Table 2 Socio-economic characteristics of the maize and rice farming households.

Age group

 At most 30

15.9

11.8

10.5

3.1

9.1

4.1

9.5

 31–40

29.6

29.4

25.0

24.7

35.2

23.0

26.6

 41–50

31.8

32.9

34.3

42.3

29.6

37.8

34.8

 51–60

14.8

17.7

22.1

16.5

17.1

25.0

20.2

 Above 60

8.0

8.2

8.1

13.4

9.1

10.2

9.0

Mean age (years)

44

45

46

48

45

48

46

Gender

 Male

89.2

97.7

97.1

96.9

86.4

88.3

93.3

 Female

10.8

2.4

2.9

3.1

13.6

11.7

6.7

Marital status

 Married

98.3

96.5

98.1

96.9

96.6

98.0

97.7

 Single

0.6

2.4

1.2

3.1

0.0

0.0

1.0

 Widow/divorced

1.1

1.2

0.7

0.0

3.4

2.0

1.2

Education attainment

 No formal education

30.1

23.5

33.6

13.4

25.0

10.7

25.4

 Arabic education

4.0

0.0

14.8

1.0

0.0

0.0

6.6

 Primary education

18.8

14.1

16.2

35.1

21.6

26.0

20.4

 Secondary education

25.6

21.2

15.2

21.7

33.0

41.8

24.4

 Tertiary education

21.6

41.2

20.2

28.9

20.5

21.4

23.2

Mean education attainment (years)

8

9

6

9

8

10

8

Household size

 1–5

17.1

28.2

15.0

39.2

31.8

38.8

24.4

 6–10

43.2

49.4

35.5

38.1

44.3

51.5

41.8

 11–15

21.0

11.8

27.6

17.5

21.6

8.2

20.2

 Above 15

18.8

10.6

21.9

5.2

2.3

1.5

13.6

Mean household size

11

9

11

7

7

7

10

Farm size (ha)

 Large farm (> 5Ha)

5.1

9.4

8.3

11.3

12.5

15.3

9.8

 Medium farm (2–5 Ha)

25.6

30.6

26.2

28.9

22.7

30.6

27.2

 Small farm (< 2Ha)

69.3

60.0

65.5

59.8

64.8

54.1

63.0

Mean farm size (ha)

2.2

2.3

2.2

2.2

2.5

3.0

2.4

Simpson Index

 Fragmented

47.7

49.4

43.3

40.2

47.7

64.8

48.6

 Consolidated

52.3

50.6

56.7

59.8

52.3

35.2

51.4

Mean Simpson Index

52.0

51.0

57.0

60.0

52.0

35.0

51.0