Lubem Tsavhemba
Geography Department,
College of Education,
Katsina-Ala, Benue State.
Felix Tersoo Gbaeren
Department of Political Science,
College of Education
Katsina-Ala, Benue State.
Abstract
The study was on effects of banditry on income of farmers in Katsina-Ala Local Government Area of Benue State, Nigeria. Banditry is a serious security challenge in Katsina-Ala where bandits have continued to ravage the agricultural activities of the region. The menace posed by banditry has affected farmers income and livelihood thereby making them to sojourn in the neighbouring Local Government Areas. The population of the study in the ten districts/wards is given at 30,892. A systematic sampling of household are selected at regular interval from the sampling frame. The x/nth of every individual household of every 50 from the population is selected, 100/50 as a sample frame of farmers for each of the ten wards was adopted to select 217 farmer-households. Data were collected using structured questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (percentages, frequency) and multiple regressions. The results revealed that majority of respondents were male with long year of experience in farming. The coefficient of low participation on weekly contribution (Adashi) (1.9823.93) was negatively significant at 10% level of probability. Displacement of farmers from their native markets to nearby markets (x =2.42) and rising of the price of farm produce stead (x =2.20) were the major constraints faced by farmers. It was recommended that farmers should diversify into other income generating activities in order to improve their livelihood status and government should collaborate with village heads for provision of security for farmers in the study area.
Keywords: Effects, Banditry activities, Income and Farmers