Effect of HIV/AIDS Prevalence on Farm Income of People Living With HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in Kogi State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study was on effect of HIV/AIDS prevalence on farm income of People Living With HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in Kogi State, Nigeria. The study described the socio-economic characteristics of PLWHA who are small scale farmers, determined the factors affecting the farm income of PLWHA, and identified the major problems encountered by PLWHA in the study area. A simple random sampling method was used. Three health care facilities and one community based organization were selected. Thirty (30) PLWHA-small scale farmers were randomly selected from each of the facilities making a total of 120 respondents. Data were gathered through questionnaire administration. Descriptive statistics, multiple regression, and mean score were used for data analysis. The results showed that 45.8% of the respondents were widow with non-formal education and a household size of 6-10. 60% of the respondents were full time farmers with farming experience of 11-15 years. Age, technology adoption and labour lost as a result of HIV/AIDS were significant variables affecting the farm income of PLWHA. Labour lost had a negative coefficient while age and technology adoption were positively related to farm income. The major problems encountered by PLWHA who are small scale farmers include low earnings, stigmatization, discrimination, inadequate capital, and lack of credit facilities. The study recommends that government should take necessary measures to control the spread of the disease. Also, soft loan should be made available and accessible to PLWHA who are small scale farmers.