dc.description.abstract |
Smallholder farmers who account for 80-90 percent of agricultural production in Nigeria rely mainly on
hired labour for farming. In order to enhance work output and attract better wages, hired farm labourers
consume large quantities of stimulants which unfortunately have harmful effects on them. Previous
research focused on health impacts of stimulant consumption among hired labourers, while data on its
influence on their productivity has not been well documented. Hence, the influence of stimulant
consumption on productivity of hired farm labourers in southwestern Nigeria was investigated.
A five-stage sampling procedure was used. Ogun State, due to high influx of foreign farm labourers
through its international borders and Oyo State due to prominence in food production in southwestern
Nigeria were purposively selected for the study. Thereafter, 20% of agrarian Local Government Areas
(LGA) located around the border in each state (Imeko Afon, Egbado North, Egbado South and Ipokia in
Ogun; Irepo, Saki West, Atisbo, Iwajowa, Ibarapa North and Kajola in Oyo) were randomly sampled.
Three communities in each LGA were randomly selected, while ten percent of Growth Enhancement
Support Scheme Farmers (GESSF) were purposively sampled due to prominence of hired farm
labourers. Ten percent of the GESSF hired farm labourers were randomly sampled to give 271 hired
farm labourers. Interview schedule was used to obtain data on hired farm labourers’ personal
characteristics (age, sex, marital status, nationality, labour experience and labour status), pattern of
engagement and reward system, stimulant consumed (types: alcohol, analgesic, caffeine, cannabis
based; and quantities), reasons for stimulant consumption, sources of stimulants, common health
problems experienced, frequency of visits to health centres, attitude towards stimulant consumption, use
of labour-saving devices, and labour productivity using standardised scales. Labour productivity was
measured in terms of total daily income per number of hours worked. Indices of visits to health centres
(low:1.00-5.99; high:6.00-19.00), attitude towards stimulant consumption (negative:55.00-107.99;
positive:108.00-143.00), use of labour-saving equipment (low:0.00-4.99; high:5.00-11.00) and labour
productivity (low:90.35-113.99; high:114.00-1375.00) were generated. Data were analysed using
descriptive statistics and linear regression at α0.05.
Hired farm labourers were aged 32.3±9.6 years, male:96.0%, married:65.2% and non-nationals: 57.4%.
They were mostly full-time farm workers:79.0% and received cash:73.9% or motorcycles: 41.7% as
reward. Stimulants consumed were alcohol (gegemu:242.2±656.1), analgesic (tramadol:132.6±191.4),
caffeine (kolanut:10.7±7.6) and cannabis (marijuana:10.7±8.6) based. Reasons for consuming stimulant
included accumulation of labour strength:85.5% and relaxation:81.9%. Major sources of stimulants
were hawkers:70.3% and patent medicine stores:59.8%. Common health problems perceived to be
associated with stimulant consumption were chronic weight loss (21.44±28.8), stimulant dependency
(13.06±22.8) and migraine (5.58±6.9). Proportion (P) of those who had low visits to health centres upon
experiencing stimulant-induced health problems was 65.2%, while 48.6% had negative attitude towards
stimulant consumption. Hired farm labourers classified into low category of use of labour-saving
equipment and labour productivity were 57.6% and 82.6% respectively. Labour productivity was
significantly influenced by nationality (β=0.237), attitude to stimulant consumption (β=-0.299),
consumption of alcohol (β=-0.372) and analgesic-based stimulants (β=-0.276).
The consumption of alcohol and analgesic-based stimulants reduced productivity of hired farm
labourers. |
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