Assessment of effectiveness of conflict management strategies amongst rural households in Osun state, Nigeria

Abstract

The study was conducted with the purpose of assessing the effectiveness of conflict management strategies amongst rural households in Osun State, Nigeria. 153 household heads, selected through multistage sampling technique, were interviewed for the study through the administration of pre-tested interview schedule in the three purposively selected rural Local Government Areas (LGAs). The mean age of the respondents was47±17.8 and 62.1% of them were male. In addition, the mean household size was 6.3±3.9 and majority (78.4%)were farmers. Causes of rural household conflicts identified were inadequate finance, wives’ insubordination and interference from third party, amongst others. The findings revealed that at p<0.01, occupation (χ2=33.483); sex (χ2=29.502); and religion affiliation (χ2=31.612) of the respondents had significant association with effectiveness of conflict management strategies. Furthermore, at p<0.01, respondents’ age (r= 0.512) and household size (r= -0.483) had significant relationship with conflict management strategies’ effectiveness. Thestudy concludes that conflict management strategies amongst rural households were effective. It was recommended that policy makers, rural developers and extension agents should include effective conflict management strategies in programme packages.