Determinants of Factors Influencing the Choice of Livelihood Sustainability Strategies among Small-Scale Farmers in Flood Prone Area of Jigawa State

Abstract

This study was conducted to assess the factors influencing the choice of livelihood sustainability strategies among small-holder farmers in flood-prone areas of Jigawa State, Nigeria. Multistage sampling procedure was used to select 383 smallholder farmers and an online questionnaire (Kobotool box) was used to elicit information from the sampled population. The collected data was analyzed, using descriptive statistics, multinomial logit and multiple regression analysis. The study revealed that Sex (P<0.1), marital status (P<0.05), household size (P<0.1), monthly income (P<0.05), farming experience (P<0.05), and membership of cooperative society (P<0.1) were found to be factors influencing the choice of livelihood sustainability strategies employed by the smallholder farmers in the study area. Self-employment (P<0.01), pension (P<0.1), non-farm wage (P<0.01), and business of agricultural product income (P<0.05) were the factors affecting livelihood sustainability options for smallholder farmers’ income in the study area. The study concluded that socio-economic variables had a significant influence on the choice of livelihood sustainability strategies engaged by smallholder farmers in the study area. It is recommended that the government, non-governmental organizations, and community stakeholders should also improve rural infrastructures like good roads, rural electrification, potable water, telecommunication services, and an affordable healthcare system since they are important for enhancing economic activities and improving livelihoods.