Statistics of rice farming activities during COVID-19 pandemic lockdown: the case of Niger State, Nigeria

ABSTRACT

The impact of the infamous 2019 pandemic on agriculture has in most cases been generalized. However, the impacts affected sectors and subsectors differently which would advocate different approach to the challenges faced. The main objective of this study is to highlight how the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown affected the activities of the rice farmers, the rice supply chain to find out if the general view of the impact from literatures is similar or different and then propose pro-active measures/strategies to mitigating shocks against any future outbreak. Data were collected from over 300 households which include about 165 rice farmers. All the rice farmers are male, with an average age of 34 years with majority 87% reside in rural areas. Most of the farmers are aware of the existence and dangers of COVID-19. Although there was considerable free movement of rural farmers to access their farms, inputs especially fertilizer has been the major constraints to production. More so, most farmers were only able to sell 1-20% of their paddy rice during the period. Evidence suggest that majority of the rice farmers remain optimistic despite the disruption caused by COVID-19 as over half of the farmers (61%) experienced moderate price of their produce compared to pre-COVID-19 period, 31% were offered higher while only 8% of the farmers reported lower prices. Other interesting finding are highlighted in and proactive recommendations provided against any similar crisis.