PERCEIVED EFFECTS OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON SMALL SCALE FARMING ACTIVITIES AMONG HOUSEHOLDS IN KWARA STATE, NIGERIA

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Date
2024
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International Journal of Agriculture, Environment and Bioresearch
Abstract
The study assessed the effects of covid-19 on small scale farming activities among households in Kwara State. Specifically, the study described socioeconomic characteristics of farmers, ascertained their level of knowledge about covid-19 and examined attitude of farmers towards use of preventive practices on covid-19. A two-stage sampling procedure was used to select 120 respondents and data was generated with the aid of structured interview schedule. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze the objectives while Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) was used to test the hypotheses. Results show that 88.3% of the respondents were male, mean age was 45years, average household size of 8 persons and average farming experience of 12.5years. Most of the respondents heard about covid-19 (99.2%) and farmers practiced safety preventive measures against covid-19 (66.6%). Major challenges farmers experienced during covid-19 include inability to go to the farm (75.0%), reduced/low yield as a result of not planting at the right time (88.8%), increased cost of farm inputs (93.3%) and decrease in income from lower crop yield (91.7%). There was a positive significant correlation between level of knowledge and farmers’ perception of covid-19 effects on small scale farming activities (p=0.000, r=0.370). There was also significant relationship between attitude to use of preventive practices and their perception of the effects of covid-19 on small scale farming activities (p=0.001, r=0.082). The study therefore concluded that farmers’ knowledge on covid-19 and attitude to use of preventive measures are paramount to how they perceive the effects of the pandemic. It was therefore suggested that timely and adequate information on the incidence, spread and prevention of diseases should be made available to people to enhance a positive response towards curbing the pandemic.
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