Smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa produce the bulk of the food consumed by inhabitants of these countries despite their poor working conditions in terms of access to inputs, improved technology and basic infrastructures. The changing pattern of climate, unstable micro- and macroeconomic conditions coupled with the rising poverty situation has even made the matter worse for most farmers. The resultant effect of this is manifested in poor living conditions and dwindling interest in agriculture. In Nigeria, agriculture remains the largest employer of labour providing livelihood for over 70% of the population. This paper relied on primary data collected through administration of structured questionnaire on a random sample of 360 smallholder farmers in southwest Nigeria using a multistage sampling procedure. The data were collected in March and September, being the peak of dry and raining seasons in the country. Respondents� distribution by age indicates that average age of these farmers is 45 years, and educational distribution of respondents show that about one-third are educated up to tertiary level while 36% have no formal education. Also, about two-third were estimated to be vulnerable going by the vulnerability benchmark constructed using the consumption expenditure data collected in March and September. A probit analysis employed to ascertain the determinants of vulnerability to seasonal fluctuations in production and marketing show that respondents� age, gender, years of formal education, household size, membership of cooperatives, access to inputs, access to extension services, distance to markets and price situation are major determinants of vulnerability in the study area.

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