Intergenerational Farm Transfer, Human Capital Investment, and Agricultural Succession in Imo State, South East Nigeria: A Life Cycle Analysis

Agricultural succession and intergenerational farm transfer are foundational processes determining the long-run sustainability of smallholder farming systems, yet the interactions between succession planning, human capital investment decisions, and household life cycle dynamics have not been theorised or empirically investigated in the South East Nigerian context. In Imo State, changing inheritance norms, urban migration pressure, and declining youth agricultural interest are creating an agricultural succession crisis with implications for future productivity. This study developed a life cycle model of intergenerational farm transfer and human capital investment and tested it empirically using a unique multi-generational household dataset of 380 farming families with tracked succession outcomes across two generations in Imo State. The theoretical model incorporated altruism, strategic bequest motives, and human capital trade-off dynamics. Structural estimation used maximum simulated likelihood methods. Results revealed that parental investment in children's formal education significantly reduced the probability of within-family farm succession, creating a human capital-agricultural succession trade-off. However, this effect was moderated by farm profitability, with highly profitable farm enterprises retaining successors at higher rates even when education levels were high. Social norms around land inheritance played an important independent role in succession probability beyond economic factors. The study makes original theoretical and empirical contributions to the agricultural succession literature in South East Nigeria, with recommendations for farm profitability investment and successor preparation programmes. Keywords: intergenerational transfer, farm succession, human capital, Imo State, life cycle model.