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Productivity of agricultural labour is central to the improvement of livelihoods of rural population. This study used an instrumental variable approach to examine the impact of healthcare facilities use on household labour productivity using distance to healthcare facilities as an instrument. A multistage sampling procedure was used in selecting 200 households comprising 96 users and 104 non-users of healthcare facilities. The result revealed that the agricultural productivity of users of healthcare facilities was ₦652.34 (USD 1.65) per man-day higher than non-users. The result further showed that age (p < 0.1), sex (p < 0.05), contact with health extension worker (p < 0.01), incapacitation due to illness (p < 0.05) and distance to healthcare facilities (p < 0.01) significantly influenced the decision to use healthcare facilities while membership of cooperative society (p < 0.05), area cultivated and use of health care facilities (p < 0.1) significantly influenced labour productivity. The study concluded that increased distance to healthcare facilities reduces its utilisation while being member of cooperative society and utilisation of healthcare facilities increases labour productivity. This study recommended that health extension workers need to intensify their efforts in educating the households on the need to use healthcare facilities when they are sick; this is expected to improve the healthy time of the households which will invariably increase their productivity.

Understanding the choice of healthcare facility utilisation is essential to the provision of need-based healthcare services to the population. This study was carried out to estimate factors influencing the choice of healthcare facilities utilised by rural households. A multistage sampling procedure was used to select 240 rural households comprising 1440 persons. Data were collected with the use of a structured questionnaire and analysed with descriptive techniques and a multivariate probit (MVP) model. The MVP result showed that households supplement public healthcare facilities with private clinics, support traditional medical treatment with self-medication, and replace self-medication with public healthcare facilities and private clinics. Similarly, age, gender, household size, cost of drugs, distance to public healthcare facilities, travelling cost, contact with community health workers, total income, awareness of public health facilities, quality of health facilities, and terrain of health facilities influence the choice of healthcare facilities utilised. The study concluded that increased total income, contact with community health extension workers, awareness of health facilities, and perceived quality of services rendered positively influence the choice of healthcare facilities sorted after while the increase in the cost of drugs, distance to health facilities, travelling cost and difficult terrain of health facilities negatively impact the choice of healthcare facilities utilised. The study recommended that public healthcare facilities should be located within the reach of the people and equipped with essential drugs at a reduced cost. Households should also engage in activities that will increase their income so that they can use better healthcare facilities.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections, just like many other public health emergencies, is a well-established global health burden that has resulted in several changes in routines and lifestyles of people globally. The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by SARS-CoV-2, has directly or indirectly involved in the loss of lives of more than 3.24 million as of 6th May, 2021. The increasing threats posed by this pandemic were subsided by the swift and drastic measures put in place by different countries. As other causes of death before the emergence of COVID-19 still exist, the pandemic has further worsened their impact. The increased risks of COVID-19 deaths are not only due to the health burden it possesses, but also due to some other factors. These factors include domestic violence that becomes rampant, especially during lockdowns; hunger due to low economic development, unemployment, and loss of jobs; suicide due to depression; exhausted health system due to high level of COVID-19 cases and inability to contain it. As we move from the response phase into recovery, the pandemic’s direct and broader impacts on individuals, households, and communities will influence the capacity to recover. An understanding of these impacts is therefore required to develop priorities to support recovery. This paper identifies other causes of death amidst the pandemic, such as domestic violence, hunger, suicide, and exhausted health system, and how to minimize their effects.

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The study examined the relationship between information systems and attitude of the farmers towards risk in Goronyo Local Government, Sokoto State, Nigeria. A three-stage sampling procedure was used to select one hundred and twenty (120) farmers from three sectors in the irrigation scheme. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics, attitudinal scale approach and multinomial logistic regression. The result of socioeconomic characteristics revealed that the farmers were predominantly male and married with mean age, farm-size and farming experience of 37 years, 0.78ha and 13 years respectively.. Radio was reported to be the major source of agricultural information reported by the farmers. The analysis on Attitudinal Scale Approach (ASA) revealed a slight variation in the classification between the risk averse and risk taking group with only a few in the neutral category. The multinomial analysis confirmed that there exists significant relationship between risk attitude of farmers and information systems, age, years of schooling, and household size. The study further revealed that damage by pests and diseases, high costs of farm inputs, inadequate storage facilities, as well as poor remunerative prices of farm produce are some of the major sources of risk faced by farmers in the study area. It was therefore recommended that extension education be intensified in order to bring to the notice of the farmers on the different means available to getting prompt information as regards their production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transforming the subsistence-oriented cassava production system into a market-oriented production system as a way of increasing the smallholder farmers' income, reducing poverty and thus increasing their welfare has been a policy focus in Nigeria. The study examined the effects of agricultural commercialization on poverty status of smallholder cassava farming households. Multistage sampling procedure was used to select 189 households; data were collected with the use of a well-structured questionnaire and analysed with the use of household commercialization index, FGT index, ordered probit model and logistic regression model. The result of household commercialization index revealed that larger proportion of the farmers commercialize at a high level. Level of education, farming experience, farm income, quantity of cassava produced and extension visits influenced commercialization. The results further showed that 37.28% of smallholder cassava farming household were poor. Sex, level of education, farming experience, quantity of cassava produced, farm income, level of commercialization and extension visit significantly influenced poverty status. The study concludes that most cassava farmers have a high level of commercialization which has a positive influence on the farmers' welfare. The study recommends farmers' education, effective policy intervention and programmes on commercialization and access to credit to improve farmers welfare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study assesses the linkages between income diversification and household food security status using United State Department of Agriculture (USDA) 18 items questionnaire core module. Multistage sampling procedure was used to select 240 households, data were collected with the use of structured questionnaire and analyzed with descriptive statistics, Rasch model, Simpson Diversification Index (SDI) and ordered logit regression model. The result of the information function revealed that the scale is adaptable for this study. The SDI revealed that the households averagely diversify their income source. The USDA food security results revealed that majority of the households were in very low food security category. The ordered logit regression revealed that age (p<0.05), marital status (p<0.05) and dependency ratio (p<0.05) had negative effects on household food security status while income diversification (p<0.05) and access to health facilities (p<0.1) had positive effects. It was thereby concluded that income diversification increases household food security status while increase in number of dependent individuals reduces it. This study thereby recommended that regional government at all levels should set up skill acquisition and empowerment programs that will enable household's practices farming along with a wide range of income generating activities, this will go a long way in reducing number of dependent individuals and increasing households food security status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]