IMPACTS OF OFF-FARM EMPLOYMENTS ON AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY IN GWER WEST LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, BENUE STATE

ABSTRACT

In sub-Saharan Africa, it is very common to notice most  rural  households  engage  in  other  income  generating  activities  to  augment the  main  source  of  income from  agricultural  activities. The main aim of this study was to examine the impacts of off-farm employments on agricultural productivity in Gwer-West Local Government Area (LGA), Benue State. Specific objectives were to investigate the reasons for off-farm work in the study area; investigate the variable that has the highest inflow or impact due to off-farm employment in the study area; examine if off-farm employments is an alternative strategy to improve household earnings and well-being in the study area; and investigate if there is increase in agricultural output due to inflow of off-farm employment. Two hypotheses were also proposed namely: there is no significant relationship between off-farm work and agricultural increase or output; there is no significant relationship between off-farm employment and households earnings. Multi-stage simple random sampling techniques were used in the administration of structured questionnaires to 381 respondents spread across four communities in four communities in the LGA. Simple percentage, Likert’s scale analysis and Pearson Product Moment Correlation technique were deployed in data analyses and interpretation. The result showed that majority of the sampled respondents (n = 212; 55.8%) were male while 168 (44.2%) were female while majority of the respondents (n = 201; 52.9%) were also married.  It was also found that the 1st, 2nd and 3rd most perceived major causes of off-farm employment in Gwer-West LGA, based on the weighted mean score (WMS) of 4.46, 4.42 and 4.38 were low income from farming, because of the recent insecurity in farming and alternative source of income for household livelihood outside farming respectively. The study also showed that the first three (3) most perceived variables with the highest inflow/impact from off-farm employment in GwerWest LGA were reduction in farm size (WMS = 3.70), reduction in poverty (WMS = 3.67) and education (WMS = 3.62). Also, majority (n = 372; 97.9%) of the study participants strongly agree to the assertion that off-farm employments is certainly an alternative strategy to improve household earnings. At 95% level of confidence, it was established that there is significant relationship between off-farm work and agricultural increase or output. Also, 71% of the household earnings can actually be linked to the engagement in off-farm employment. It was recommended that farming households should be well trained formally and informally on other livelihood options in order to be adequately equipped for available and future off-farm employment opportunities.