Effect of Rural Infrastructure on Livelihood of Farmers in Niger Delta Area, Nigeria

Abstract

This research was designed to evaluate the effects of rural infrastructure provided by Government, NGOs/Corporate Organizations, and self-help on the livelihood of farmers in Niger Delta area, Nigeria. The specific objectives were to identify the socio-economic characteristics of the farmers, establish the livelihood status of farmers in the study area, identify the Government, NGOs/Corporate Organizations, and self-help rural infrastructure in the study area, and determine the state of infrastructure provided by government, NGOs/Corporate Organizations, and self-help. The multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select a sample size of 450 with the aid of a questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used for data analysis. The result on livelihood was positive, with a Livelihood status index of  0.73, indicating that 73% of the farmers had good livelihood status in the study area. The respondent identified eleven (11) infrastructures, and the infrastructure provided by self-help had six infrastructures that was in a good state. Community centres/halls (M=3.72), Access road (untarred) (M=3.62), Potable water (M=3.56), Agro-Processing facilities (M=3.17), security service (M=2.93) and Market /Stalls (M=2.60). The Cox & Snell R² value of 0.314 and the Nagelkerke R² value of 0.437 showed the amount of variance explained by the model, and the chi-square value of 30.902 with 3 degrees of freedom is highly significant (p<0.001).The study recommends, among others, that the Government should offer an infrastructure framework that is adapted to rural farmers' perceived needs to improve the livelihood activities among rural communities.