Environmental Hazard Effects on Agricultural Production among Rural Households in Imo State, Nigeria

Izuogu C U

doi:10.13189/ujph.2015.030601

Abstract

This study evaluated environmental hazard effects as a critical issue relating to agricultural production of rural households in Imo State, Nigeria. Multi- staged purposive and random sampling techniques were used to choose the samples. The study determined the farming activities of the respondents, ascertained the respondents knowledge of the effects of environmental hazard on agricultural production among respondents and analysed the relationship between environmental hazard and agricultural production of respondents. Primary data collected from 116 respondents were used for the study. Data analysis was carried out with the use of descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis. Results from the study show that majority (76.54%) of the respondents were engaged in cassava production as their major cash crop. A mean score of 2.18 on a three point likert-liked scale showed that majority of the respondents were aware of the effects of environmental hazard on their agricultural production. Results from the regression analysis shows that flood, oil pollution, erosion and wind storm were significant and negatively related to the agricultural production. Oil explorations that go on in the rural areas should be adequately monitored to reduce its negative effect on the rural environment. It was therefore recommended that more efforts should be made to mitigate the effects of environmental hazard on agricultural production of rural dwellers. This could be achieved by providing agricultural insurance schemes for farmers, paying compensation to farmers over losses arising from environmental hazards.

Highlights

Human beings began to alter the earth’s environment to eke out existence thousands of years ago
This paper has evaluated environmental hazard as a critical issue affecting agricultural production of rural households in Imo State, Nigeria
The study has brought to limelight the fact that environmental hazard affects agricultural production and that respondents were relatively aware of these effects

Summary

Introduction

Human beings began to alter the earth’s environment to eke out existence thousands of years ago. It was through the use of simple tools for hunting and gathering, and later with more complex tools for land cultivation (for planting purposes) and rearing of animals. Evidence abounds of human intervention and disturbance of environmental stability. Environmental variability is a natural phenomenon, the increasing frequency and severity of extreme climatic events can in part be attributed to human activities such as deforestation and inappropriate management of land and water resources 1. Hazards once considered natural and unavoidable are thought to be partly due to human-induced environmental change. Research shows that in many parts of the world, an increase in flooding is linked to the escalating rate of deforestation in those areas

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