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The study assessed community participation in rural infrastructural development through self- help approach in Vandeikya Local Government Area of Benue State, Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 150 respondents for the study. Data collected was analyzed using descriptive statistics, four (4) point Likert scale and logit regression model. Results from the study showed that majority (81%) of the respondents were male and were 43 years on average. 93% of the respondents were married with majority (67%) having secondary education. The respondents had an average household size of 7 persons and about 79.0% were in the informal sector like farming, trading and artisans. The average monthly income of the respondents was N31716. Schools (65%), roads (58%), health care centers (44%), local bridges /culverts (33%), boreholes (18%), local markets (13%) and electricity transformers (4%) were the infrastructures that were initiated and implemented by community self-help approaches in the study area. Community members exhibited high level participation in the areas of cash contribution (x̅=3.2), maintenance and sustainability of projects (x̅=31.1), participation in meetings for planning/decision making (x̅=2.8) and provision of physical labour on site (x̅=2.7). Educational status, major occupation, membership of community based organizations and monthly income were significant factors that influenced participation of respondents in community self-help projects. Major constraints to participation in community self-help projects in the study area were financial constraints (57%), lack of government support (47%), inefficient community leadership (37%), mismanagement of projects funds (27%), sentiments on project location and lack of interest by some community members. Government is admonished to support community development efforts inform of counterpart funding or provision of inputs. Participatory leadership, transparency and accountability in leadership should be encouraged at all the levels where possible as it encourages the community members from participating in community development projects.

The study analyzed livelihood diversification among rural farming households in Vandeikya local government area of Benue State, Nigeria. The specific objectives were to; describe the socio-economic characteristics of farming household in the study area; describe the non-farm livelihoods activities engaged by the farming households in the study area, determine the extent of diversification of farming households, determine the factors influencing livelihood diversification by farming households and identify the constraints to livelihood diversification amongst farming household in the study area. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select a total number of 192 respondents for the study. Data for the study was garnered using a structured questionnaire designed in line with the objectives of the study. Analysis of the data was done using descriptive statistics such as frequency distributions, percentages and mean as well as Logit regression. Findings revealed the mean age of the farmers to be 40 years with the males constituting the greater percentage (84%) of the respondents. The result also revealed that 76% of the respondents were married with an average household size of 8 persons and an average farm size of 2.5 hectares. The result further shows that the majority (62%) of the respondents had only primary education with an average farming experience of 9 years. The majority (93%) of farmers affirmed that they had no access to credit to finance their production activities. The farmers earned a mean annual farm income of N33518 in the study area. Greater percentage (68%) of the respondents acquired their farmlands through inheritance. Results also showed that trading, sales of cooked food and local drinks, Casual labour supply and civil service/ private salary jobs were identified as the non-farm livelihood strategies mostly adopted by the households and accounted for 62%, 33%, 30% and 28% respectively. The level of livelihood diversification in the study area was moderate as the majority of the respondents (74%) diversified into only two income sources. The result of logit regression shows that the decision to diversify from agriculture to other livelihood means was influenced by age, educational status, membership of cooperatives, access to credit and annual farm income. The leading constraints to livelihood diversification were lack of capital (31%), lack of non-farm livelihood enterprises (20.3%), infrastructural problem (17%), government policies on use of some natural resources (14.5%) and gender issues (11%). The study recommends the extension of financial institutions to the rural people to enable them have access to credit for agriculture and other income generating enterprises. Appropriate policies and strategies for the development of rural infrastructure based on the current rural livelihood situation should be formed and implemented.