EFFECTS OF RURAL-URBAN INTERACTIONS ON RURAL DWELLERS’ PARTICIPATION IN COMMUNITY BASED PROJECTS IN EDO AND ONDO STATES, NIGERIA

Abstract

Rural development and agricultural development have been the major concern of successive government in stimulating economic growth and poverty alleviation in developing countries of Africa such as Nigeria. This arises from the fact that a large proportion (70%) of her populace are domiciled in the rural areas and primarily engaged in agriculture as their source of livelihood. However, in-spite of the various interventions, the much desired improvement in the infrastructural and economic conditions of most rural areas in the country seems to be a mirage as a gap exists between the urban and the rural areas in terms of their level of development. Research has shown that this gap is exacerbated by the failure of policymakers and development planners to harness the potentials of the interdependence of urban and rural areas in that the interpenetration of rural and urban have created multiple hybrid-ties in which individuals and households shift between sources of livelihood (agricultural and industrial pursuit) and cross between rural and urban areas. This study therefore examined the effects of ruralurban interactions on rural dwellers’ participation in community based projects in Edo and Ondo States, Nigeria. The population of the study comprised all the rural dwellers in the study area. Multi-stage sampling technique was used to select respondents for the study. Well structured, validated and reliable interview schedule was used to elicit information from 300 respondents across the two states. Focus Group Discussion and in-depth Interview of key Informants was also conducted. Six research questions and four hypotheses were formulated and tested in the study using descriptive and inferential statistical tools. Findings from the study revealed that the mean age of the respondents was 46 years while the mean household size was 7. Majority (72.4%) of the respondents were within the age bracket of 26 and 55years, while 27.7% of the respondents were above 55 years of age, 57.0% of whom were male, while 43.0% were female. The main occupation of the respondents is farming (32.3%). About 40.7% of the respondents earned monthly income of between N 30,000 and N50, 999. Majority (90%) of the respondents belong to one community development group or the other. Findings from the study further indicated that the community based projects provided in the study area based on rural-urban interactions were donation of books to schools (96%), building of classrooms in community schools (84%), voluntary sanitation of the community(64.3%), erection of town halls (60%), construction of health centres (56%), sinking of borehole(47.3%), donation of computer sets to community schools (42.3%), provision of drugs and vaccines (37.7%), dredging of canals (33.7%) and construction of gutters (30.7%). A strong and positive relationship exist between the types of the community based projects and rural dwellers’ level of participation in the community based projects with Educational projects (r=0.500); Health projects (r=0.635); Agricultural projects (r=0.676); Water projects (r=0.586); Electricity projects(r=0.685); Transportation projects (r=0.636); Processing & farm produce storage projects (r=0.707); Drainage project (r=0.653); Market and economic projects (r=0.707); Security project (r=0.707); Social development projects (r=0.700); Waste management projects (r=0.673) and information & communication projects (r=0.659) at p< 0.05respectively. The study further revealed that a significant difference subsist in the rural dwellers’ perception of the effects of their forms of rural urban interactions on their participation in community based projects ( t= 5.946, p< 0.05). The result of the linear regression showed that participation in community based educational projects is positively affected by age (ᵝ=0.201), average monthly income (ᵝ=0.006) and household size (ᵝ=0.013, p< 0.05) while participation in community based agricultural projects is negatively affected by age (ᵝ= -0.139), average monthly income (- 0.265) and household size (ᵝ =-0.009, P< 0.05). The study concludes that a positive interaction/ relationship exist between the rural area and the urban centres in terms of sustainable development as the multiple types of flows and interactions could be harnessed for sustainable rural transformation. It was therefore recommended that spatial and sectoral rural-urban interactions identified in the study should be harnessed by the stakeholders involved in community development projects and policy making in Nigeria to promote the standard of living in the rural areas through active participation of rural dwellers in community based projects.