ISSN 2360-798X
Abstract: The influence of illness on agricultural productivity in Nigeria's rural districts of Kebbi state was examined in this study. The reason for this is that rural areas, which are strategically significant for the country's food security, are more vulnerable to health risks due to the subpar quality of health care, which is partially due to government neglect. The goals were to outline the socioeconomic traits of the rural farm households and pinpoint the region's current relationship between agricultural production and health. In order to obtain pertinent information about 263 rural households' farming operations and health concerns, a multistage random sample approach was used to choose them for questionnaire delivery. Production function analysis and descriptive statistics were used. According to the survey, there were an average of 6.5 people living in each family, and the heads of those households were 46.4 years old on average. Additionally, it was discovered that the average farm size was 1.43 hectares and the average number of years of formal schooling was 7.4. Additionally, the study found that diarrhea, typhoid fever, and malaria were the most common illnesses impacting farm families. As a result, there was an average 8.2-day decrease in the amount of time that could be spent working on the farm during an agricultural season. The production function analysis result showed that the number of days of farm work missed due to illness was negatively signed (0.09) and significant at 5%, while the elasticities of farm size (0.419), family size (0.099), labor (0.012), number of contacts with extension agents (0.018), and labor (0.012) and naira amount of credit accessed (0.25) were positively signed and significant at 1%, 10%, 1%, and 1%, respectively. The number of days that a household's farming activities are missed due to illness, according to the findings, may provide a clearer picture of how illness affects food security and agricultural output. To lower the frequency of disease infestation, more research and development efforts should be made in the areas of health care accessibility and provision in rural areas. Since the majority of illnesses found in the research area are actually related to hygiene and the environment, such initiatives should also entail providing the rural people with appropriate health and environmental education.
Keywords: Kebbi State, agricultural productivity, impact, and sickness