Effect of Land Speculators Activities on Crop Farming Management Practices in Akinyele Local Government Area, Oyo State

Abstract

The study was carried out to examine the effect of land speculators activities on crop farming management practices in Akinyele Local Government Area Oyo State. A four-stage random sampling was used to select 106 respondents.  Data were collected through the use of questionnaire and were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The study showed that most (56.6%) of the respondents were male, married (66.0%) and 59.3% had farming experience between 1-10 years. The study also revealed that the management practices such as irrigation practices (54.7%) and Planting (71.1%) were mostly affected by land speculators. Furthermore, the effect of land speculators included, displacement of farmers (48.1%), livelihood insecurities (51.9%) and short-term production of crops (51.9%). The coping strategies used by respondents involved monitoring land prices and value (57.5%), joining and forming organization (54.7%), diversify of crop farming (50.9%), and strengthening community ties (42.5%). Chi square analysis revealed a significant relationship between sex (ϰ² = 1.540), marital status (ϰ²= 5.280), educational level (ϰ²= 13.422), membership (ϰ² = 5.694) and effect of land speculators on crop farming management practices. It is therefore recommended that extension services should deploy intervention programmes on land management that will increase productivity among farmers.

Keywords: Land Speculators, Crop Farming, Management Strategies, Activities