Livelihoods and coping strategies adopted by rural households in response to the Covid-19 pandemic in Ogun State, Nigeria

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic, which was initially considered a public health crisis, has caused a lot of distress and discomfort globally. This is because much of the impact of the pandemic has been felt on the global economy and this may be felt for a long time to come, both in rural and urban areas. This work was conducted to ascertain the effects of the pandemic on farming families in Ogun State, and to identify the methods employed to adapt to the scourge of Covid-19. Three hundred copies of a questionnaire were administered to respondents in the study area. Descriptive statistics and inferential statistics such as the Paired Samples T-test and Poisson Regression Model (PRM) were used to analyse the data collected. The study showed that about 67 per cent of the respondents were younger than 50, and 56 per cent were male. It was also observed that the majority (56.67 per cent) of the households in the study area had five or less members in the household, which is an indication that most households in the study area had a small family size. Farming was the main occupation, as 63.67 per cent of respondents were farmers. The result of the paired-sample analysis showed that the pandemic had affected the income of the respondents and their households negatively, as the respondents were better off before the outbreak of Covid-19. The results of the PRM analysis revealed that age, education, household size, access to financial or other assistance, and monthly income before the outbreak of the pandemic were among the factors that significantly influenced the number of coping strategies adopted by respondents to combat the pandemic. The implication is that older people are more likely to be vulnerable and less likely to have sustainable coping strategies during a pandemic. It is, therefore, recommended that more assistance should be directed at older people during a disease outbreak, to alleviate their suffering.