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ABSTRACT
This study investigated the impact of urbanization and its implication on food production and agricultural development in Edo State. Four (4) research questions were raised for the study. The study adopted the descriptive survey research design. The purposive sampling technique was used to select sixty (60) Arable farmers in Egor and Ovia North Local Government of Edo State who are registered with Ministry of Agriculture, Edo State as the sample for the study. The instrument for data collection was a questionnaire titled Questionnaire on Impact of Urbanization and its Implication on Food Production and Agricultural Development (QIUIFPAD). It was validated by the researchers’ supervisor and two other experts. Its reliability was established at 0.87 using Cronbach alpha method. The demographic data was presented in frequency tables and analyzed using percentages. Research question 1 was analyzed using percentages while questions 2-4 were analyzed using mean and rank order. Decision rule: The level of acceptance or rejection of each questionnaire item related was determined based on the criterion mean rating. The criterion mean based on a four point rating scale is equal to 2.50; therefore, values below 2.50 were regarded as disagreed while values above 2.50 were regarded as agreed.
The findings revealed that the level of awareness of arable farmers about urbanization was moderately high. The average percentage of correct response was 68.3% while for incorrect response was 31.7%;Urbanization has a high negative impact on food production and on agricultural development while the implications of urbanization on agricultural development includes: high cost of planting material, lack of capital for investment in agriculture, unaffordability of land, reduced availability of labour, poor credit facilities, among others.
It was recommended among others that the Government should come up with strategies for future developmental control of agriculture land to checkmate the effect of urbanization on food production and agriculture development. Though urban growth cannot be stopped, but with proper management and planning it can be logically directed in an advantageous and sustainable way. Farmers in the state should be assisted by government and relevant non-governmental organizations through the provision of soft loans and grant facilities to enable them procure modern farming implements and tools to boost or scale up food production. They should equally be sensitized on how to access information to aid them in their farming activities.
