EFFECTS OF INSURGENCY ON CROP FARMING ACTIVITIES OF RURAL WOMEN IN ADAMAWA STATE, NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

The study analyzed the effect of insurgency on crop farming activities of rural women in Adamawa State, Nigeria. Multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 232 rural women involved in agricultural production on which structured questionnaire complemented with interview schedules was employed to collect primary data. Data collected were analyzed using both descriptive statistics (means, percentages and frequency counts) and inferential statistics (multiple regression and Gini Coefficient). The result showed that majority (82.8%) of the respondents were within the age range of 26 – 55 years with mean age of 40 years, Majority (74.6%) were married with a mean household size and farming experience of 7 and 13 years respectively. The results also revealed that majority (59.9%) were full-time farmers with poor access to credits and extension services. The respondents had access to improved seeds, fertilizer, herbicides, cutlass, and hoes. The result of the Gini-coefficient was 0.53 implying that there was inequality in the distribution of income among the rural women in the study area. The effects of insurgency on crop farming activities of rural women were relocation, fear of been killed, loss of farm land, decrease in production, death of many farmers, reduction in  contribution  to  the  economy,  loss  of  farm  produce  in  storage,  increased  food insecurity and low yield of crops. Rural women also reported that ignorance, loose border, poverty, unemployment and religious bigotry were the major perceived causes of insurgency in the study area. Regression analysis revealed that farm land lost (-0.3001), animals lost (-0.2447), assets lost (-0.5605), relocation (-0.1449), frequency of attack (-0.7582), people displace (-0.1661) and Exposure to bomb (-0.2548) were found to be negative and statistically significant. The major constraints faced by farmers were inadequate access to fertilizer, inadequate access to credit, destruction of farm land, stealing of farm produce and poor access to farm lands. It was recommended that government, policy makers and other stakeholders should put in more effort to end insurgency activities in the study area to improve agricultural activities. It was also suggested that more production inputs should be provided to the rural women who are the most vulnerable and victims of insurgency by Federal and State government, Non- Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and Community-Based Organizations (CBOs).

CHAPTER ONE

1.0       INTRODUCTION

1.1       Background of the study

Agriculture in Nigeria is the most important sector of the economy from the standpoint of rural employment, self-sufficiency in food, fiber, and export earning prior to the discovery of oil (Towobola et al., 2014). Agriculture production has become one of the most  political  and  social  pre-conditions  for  efficient  mobilization  of  production resources and accelerated rural development process (Jongur, 2011). Agricultural activities are the main source of livelihood and well-being of the people, majority of the farmers  were  classifies  as  small-scale  farmers  because  of  the  small  size  of  their holdings. Both men and women are into agricultural activities, but males are the dominant gender in agricultural production (Umar and Abba, 2012). These farmers produce crops and livestock at a subsistence level with low level of productivity.

In Nigeria, studies have shown that women play a vital role in different aspects of income generation activities such as farming and non-farming operations. Women perform large percentage of household‟s social, economic and cultural activities of the society, their contribution to national and economic growth, even though not well documented statistically is quite substantial (Food and Agriculture Organization, 2011). According to Fontana and Paciello (2012) rural women constitute major contributors, most especially in developing nations where agricultural production is the major source of livelihood for the rural dwellers. In addition, rural women play significant role as producers of food for the maintenance of the family.

Agada and Ameh (2017) reported that about 60% of food produced comes from rural women farmers who make up to 60–80% of the agricultural labour force. Rural women in Nigeria worked side by side with men in agricultural production to enhance the livelihood of the household with some marked division of labour among them. The men perform the tedious tasks of felling trees, gathering and burning of bush and making ridges, while women are involved in planting of seeds especially food crops, harvesting, transportation, processing and selling of farm produce and products. But, rural women are lagged behind in all fields of self-advancement coupled with the challenge of insurgency; their level of production has reduced.

However, the incidence of insurgency has destabilized agricultural and socio-economic activities of the nations (Adebayo, 2014). The instability generated by the insurgency has caused an exact and substantial decrease in agricultural production (Ojo et al., 2018). The effects of Boko Haram insurgency are so numerous and cut across all aspects of life especially in the North Eastern part of Nigeria (Beatrice, 2015). Many rural areas in the epicenter of the Boko Haram insurgency namely Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States have been rendered unsafe for human habitation, pushing hundreds of thousands of farmers out of their lands. It should be noted that bulk of the farmers in Northern Nigeria are rural dwellers and rural areas happened to be the hardest hit areas by the Boko Haram insurgency. Recent estimates put the number of people killed and displaced  by  the  conflict  as  approximately  17,000  and  2.5  million  respectively (Shettima, 2016). This has seriously affected all forms of livelihood activities including agricultural production. In a region known for its debilitating poverty, aridity, periodic cycle of drought and famine, the Boko Haram insurgency has further sown the seeds of famine (Shettima, 2016).

It is noteworthy the threat posed by insurgency is undermining the existence of Nigeria as one sovereign territory. The insurgency had significantly affected the agricultural production and welfare of the people around the area mostly affected by insurgency (Blanchard, 2014). The activities of the insurgents have seriously affected various fields of human endeavors that could be categorized into physical, social and economic factors (Babagana et al., 2018). Physically, the attacking of schools, places of worship, market structures, houses and some infrastructures like roads, bridges and electricity cables have halted developmental projects that could have positive  bearing on the lives of the entire community especially that of rural women (Onwusiribe et al., 2015). They could not easily move around to carry out their farming activities as well as marketing of agricultural produce for the fear of unknown.

Socially, the insurgent crisis have resulted to increase in crime rate, reduction in the standard of living and increased number of refugee influxes, as well as setback in the educational system. These have resulted in a drop in the formal and informal sector of the economy compared to what was obtainable some years back. Economically, the crisis has affected market linkages between towns and cities and many businesses have closedown thereby crippling the income generating potentials of the rural women. These have serious bearing on the rural women as they cannot go on with their economic activities peacefully. They are exposed to rape, kidnapping and in some cases loss of lives (Onwusiribe et al., 2015).

1.2       Statement of the Research problem

The current insurgency in the North-east geographical zone of Nigeria that originally took the form of sectarian religious violence has escalated into terrorist activities with international linkages and affiliations making it relatively difficult for the  Nigerian Government to clamp down (Gilbert, 2014). The emergence of insurgency in the North- east part of the country has led to the flight for safety and security of most Nigerians residing in the area. Since the commencement of the terrorist operations, they have adopted several methods to unleash terror on the people and these has impacted negatively on agricultural activities of the affected areas because farmers in the area hardly go to farmlands for fear of the unknown, especially women farmers who are the most vulnerable targets of insurgency activities. Most States of Northern Nigeria have experienced the dastard activities of insurgency, but the worst hits have been Adamawa, Borno and Yobe States crippling the economic activities particularly that of the rural women.

The activities of the insurgency in these States have constituted a serious threat to lives and properties of residents in the study area particularly that of women residing in the area. In Adamawa State, women play vital roles in food production, processing and marketing.  They  also  contribute  to  household  well-being  through  their  income generating activities. However, the insurgency attack has deprived them their farmlands, homes and properties. The economic activities of the women in this area had being grounded thereby affecting their livelihood. In fact, the physical and economic implications of insurgency activities cannot be quantified and the social costs are enormous.

The problem of declining crop productivity in Nigeria is compounded with insurgency in the Northern part of the country as effect of insurgency on food crop production is alarming and there have been recorded low crop output in the affected areas including Adamawa State.  According to Adebisi  et al. (2017), who reported that  due to the numerous impacts of the Boko Haram insurgency, average mean of agricultural output to Nigeria‟s GDP dropped from 37.05% in 2009 to 21.0% in 2013. The reduction in the output  of  crops  because  of  the  activities  of  insurgency  and  attacks  on  farmers constituted a decrease in the availability of food for the ever-increasing population.

Since the inception of insurgency in the Northern part of the country in 2009 and its first attack in Adamawa State in 2011, few studies (Babagana et al., 2018; Ojo et al., 2018) have been conducted to determine impact of insurgency on agricultural crop production activities, there is dearth of empirical evidence on the impact of insurgency on women farmers in Adamawa State. This has constituted a gap in knowledge that need to be filled. It is against this backdrop that this research was conceived to assess the effects of insurgency on crop farming activities of rural women in Adamawa State, Nigeria. Thus, the following research questions were formulated in an attempt to provide answers to:

i.          what are the socio-economic characteristics of rural women in the study area?

ii.         what are the rural women production activities and level of access to inputs in the study area?

iii.        what is the pattern of income distribution among the rural women in the study area?

iv.       what  are  the  perceived  causes  of  insurgency  on  rural  women‟s  crop production in the study area?

v.         what  are  the  perceived  effects  of  insurgency  on  rural  women‟s  crop

production in the study area?

vi.       what are the effects of insurgency on crop output of rural women?

vii.      what are the constraints faced by the rural women farmers in the study area?

1.3       Aim and Objectives of the Study

The aim of this study is to determine the effect of insurgency on crop farming activities of rural women in Adamawa State, Nigeria. The specific objectives are to:

i.      describe the socio-economic characteristics of rural women in the study area;

ii.      examine rural women‟s crop production activities and level of access to inputs in the study area;

iii.     examine the pattern of income distribution among the rural women;

iv.      assess the perceived causes of insurgency on rural women‟s crop production;

v.      assess the perceived effects of insurgency on rural women‟s crop production;

vi.      determine the effects of insurgency on crop output of rural women;

vii.     examine the constraints faced by the rural women farmers in the study area.

1.4       Hypotheses of the Study

The following hypotheses were tested in this study:

HO1:   There   is   no   significant   relationship   between   selected   socio-economic characteristics (age, household size, educational status, farm size and experience) of the rural women and their output in the study area.

HO2: There is no significant relationship between the rural women‟s perceived level of access to production inputs and perceived effect of insurgency on crop production in the study area.

1.5       Justification of the Study

Farmers no doubt, are the most valuable asset of any developing nation and anything that affects them directly or indirectly affects the nation and as such, would constitute a national threat to food security. To this end, the study will generate information on socio-economic characteristics of women farmers in the insurgency area, which will be useful to government and policy makers that will match their status or needs.  In view of the fact that insurgency has led to grave consequences, there is therefore the need to understand the effect of insurgency on agricultural activities of women which is their major means of livelihood in northeastern Nigeria. Furthermore, information collected will be of benefit to extension agents and relevant stakeholders so that they can step up their extension activities and the type of assistance to render to women and Nigeria at large. Not all insurgent attacks in North-Eastern part of Nigeria are being reported by the media, and even when they are reported, the levels of damage to their livelihood are quantitatively not precisely reported.

This research work will provides details of the communities affected by insurgency to the government, Nigerians and the world at large for possible intervention so they can comfortably go back to their livelihood activities. This study will further provide information that will be useful to policy makers and researchers to formulate workable policies in future that would be of assistance towards ameliorating or preventing the mindless destruction of crops, animals and properties as well as the senseless killing of humans that occurred in the region and beyond. It is hoped that this work will serve as an addition to already existing literature on insurgency. More so, the findings from the study will be of benefit to academic in the social science, humanities, development studies, peace, intelligence and security studies and the society.

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