Household Health and Returns of Arable Crop Farming in Osun State, Nigeria

The study examined the effect of household health on returns of arable crop farmers in Osun State, Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 240 crop farmers from whom data were obtained from February to April 2019. Data collected were analysed with the aid of descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis. The hypotheses were tested using paired sampled t-test. The result obtained showed that high proportion of the farmers were males with mean age of 44 years. Majority of the farmers were married and educated with mean household size of 8 persons. The average farming experience of respondent was 16 years with mean farm size of 2.28ha.They have average income of N258, 412.5k. The most common illness was malaria. The result showed that 42.1% of farm income was lost to treatment of illnesses. Majority of the people patronize traditional medication whenever they are sick. The variables that had negative and significant relationship with profitability in the model were age, household size, number of time ill, number of days lost and cost of treatment.  Farm size and farming experience bore positive sign and had significant relationship with arable crop farmer’s profitability at 1% 5% and 10% probability. The result of the t-test result showed that illness affect number of days worked, output, income and expenditure of farmers. It was recommended that more affordable health service providers should be provided to reduce cost.

The study examined the effect of household health on returns of arable crop farmers in Osun State, Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 240 crop farmers from whom data were obtained from February to April 2019. Data collected were analysed with the aid of descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis. The hypotheses were tested using paired sampled t-test. The result obtained showed that high proportion of the farmers were males with mean age of 44 years. Majority of the farmers were married and educated with mean household size of 8 persons. The average farming experience of respondent was 16 years with mean farm size of 2.28ha.They have average income of N258, 412.5k. The most common illness was malaria. The result showed that 42.1% of farm income was lost to treatment of illnesses. Majority of the people patronize traditional medication whenever they are sick. The variables that had negative and significant relationship with profitability in the model were age, household size, number of time ill, number of days lost and cost of treatment.  Farm size and farming experience bore positive sign and had significant relationship with arable crop farmer’s profitability at 1% 5% and 10% probability. The result of the t-test result showed that illness affect number of days worked, output, income and expenditure of farmers. It was recommended that more affordable health service providers should be provided to reduce cost.