Abstract

Author:

Michael Famakinwa, Dorcas Lola Alabi, Damilola Leah Aribifo, Peter Onyedikachi Okonkwo

Doi: 10.26480/seps.01.2023.11.18

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License CC BY 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

The study assessed the effects of covid-19 pandemic on the livelihood of the rural community dwellers in Edo State, Nigeria. A multistage sampling procedure was used to select 156 respondents. Structured interview schedule was used to collect data from the respondents which were subjected to descriptive and inferential analyses. The results revealed that the mean age of the respondents was 47.5 ± 16 years, about 61 percent of the respondents were males and majority (86.5%) had formal education with a mean annual income of N1233846.15. Majority engaged in multiple livelihood activities with arable farming (58.3%), agromarketing (34%) and petty trading (37.4%) taking the lead. Cash at hand (87.1%), access to land (76.9%), skill acquisition centre (86.7%), possession of mobile phones (90.1%), and access to markets (98.1%) were major livelihood assets of the respondents. Many (53.7%) of the respondents had indifferent perception towards Covid-19 pandemic while majority (64 %) indicated that the effects of Covid-19 pandemic on their livelihoods was low. Income, years of education and perception about covid-19 pandemic were significantly correlated with the effects of covid-19 pandemic on respondents’ livelihoods. The study concluded that Covid-19 pandemic did not seriously affect livelihoods of rural dwellers in the study area.