Impact Of Hiv/Aids On Rural Households Farm Productivity And Agricultural Development In Delta State, Nigeria

Abstract

Nigeria agricultural production is still in the hands of small-holder farmers with little mechanization being practiced. This in turn means that most of the labour comes from human recourses. The HIV/AIDS scourge is on human resources. The study investigated the impact of HIV/AIDS scourge on rural farming and agricultural production. The study was started initially with 50 respondents but 45 respondents were finally used for the analysis. Findings reveal that majority of the respondents are young and between the ages of 15 and 49 years; also from the study it was found that agricultural labour intensive activities were on the decline whereas agricultural less labour intensive activities were on the increase. Furthermore, there were changes in job from farming to retail trading, production capital changed to consumption capital and there were limited accesses to credit. Finally, it was found from the study that majority of the HIV/AIDS affected patient have been deserted by family members and stigmatized. The study used purposive sampling mechanism to select the sample size. The study recommended that government at all levels should assist the HIV/AIDS patients. This will increase the chances of the survival of the affected patients and too reduce the rate of spread of the deadly disease. Keywords: HIV/AIDS; farm productivity; agricultural development; rural households.Global Approaches to Extension Practice Vol. 4 (1) 2008: pp. 123-133