IMPACT OF COVID 19 ON THE MARKET BEHAVIOUR FOR AGRICULTURAL PRODUCT: A CASE OF MAIZE IN KANO STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic no doubt had ravaged almost all sectors of the economic system inclusive of the Agricultural sector directly or indirectly. In a bid to assess some of the impacts in this sector, the current paper examines the impact of Covid-19 on the Maize market in terms of the price and quantity in Kano State in the early periods of the pandemic given the lockdowns and restrictions. To achieve this, a survey method through the use of structured questionnaires and informal interview of key farmers as well as direct observation of respondents was used. The multi-stage sampling technique was employed in selecting samples for the study. The logit regression and correlation were further used to determine the magnitude of the impact. The results of the study revealed that Covid-19 had affected the market for Maize especially the market quantity which was constricted due to the lockdown in Kano State and hence affected the price of Maize. The study recommends that government should not only relax the Covid19 lockdown but should also support the farmers with incentives to boost their production to curtail the prices from rising further given that most of these farmers in the study are subsistent farmers.