The study in this paper investigated the remittance receipts, income sources, total income, poverty status, and the drivers of poverty among yam farming households in Oyo State. A multistage sampling procedure was employed to select 243 rural yam farmers. A questionnaire was used to generate the data used and then analysed using descriptive statistics, Gini coefficients, the Foster-Greer-Thorbecke (FGT) poverty measure, and a binary logit regression model. The results revealed that the majority of the respondents were male and married (73.7%, 83.1%), with an average age of 49years. It was also found that 74.0% of all households’ income were from farming activities, while the remaining 36.0% was derived from off-farm activities, self-employment and remittances. Furthermore, the relative concentration of remittance income (0.274) implies that this source reduces inequality among the households. As measured by the FGT estimates,12.0% of respondents were core poor, and need N7,693.12/person per month to escape poverty. Furthermore, increasing of remittance receipts and participating in off-farm activities helps to minimize the likelihood of falling into poverty, while an additional person in the household increases the likelihood of not escaping poverty in the study area. The study concludes that a positive alliance connecting remittance income inequality and poverty alleviation exists, rural households should be encouraged to continue exploiting the positive gains of migration, and to diversify into other off-farm and non-farm activities to increase household income.

Keywords: Domestic Remittance, Foster-Greer-Thorbecke Poverty Index, Gini Coefficient, Income Inequality, Yam Farming, Nigeria.