EFFECTS OF ACCESS TO ORTHODOX AND TRADITIONAL HEALTH FACILITIES ON PERFORMANCE OF CASSAVA FARMERS IN ENUGU STATE NIGERIA

Abstract

The study examined the effects of access to orthodox and traditional health facilities on performance of cassava farmers in Enugu State, Nigeria. The specific objectives were to: describe the socio-economic characteristics of cassava farmers in the study area; identify types of illnesses prevalent among the respondents; compare the level of patronage of traditional and orthodox health facilities between rural and peri-urban cassava farmers; determine whether there is health facilities inequality between the rural and peri-urban locations; obtain the perceptions of respondents about the two healthcare facilities; identify the factors that influence patronage of traditional and orthodox healthcare facilities by cassava farmers in the study area and determine the effects of access to healthcare facilities on the output and income of cassava farmers in the study area. Two hundred and forty cassava farmers were selected using the systematic random sampling technique and data were collected by administering semi-structured questionnaire and also through Focus Group Discussion (FGD). The data collected were analyzed using mean, frequency distributions, percentages, gini coefficient, dissimilarity index, logistic regression and the ordinary least square. The study revealed that the age bracket of 41-50 years accounting for 44.58 percent of respondents dominated the production of cassava and they were mostly males (65.0 percent). 83.75 percent of the cassava farmers were literates as most of them have had some form of education ranging from primary to tertiary levels of education. Majority of the farmers (50.83 percent) cultivated less than 2hectares. It was found that 23.3 percent and 51.7 percent of the cassava farmers in the study area transport themselves to healthcare facilities using personal vehicles and motorcycles respectively. Five major diseases and illnesses prevalent in the peri-urban locations were typhoid, malaria, waist pain, cough and skin diseases and infections while in the rural LGAs the five major diseases and illnesses in the rural LGAs were malaria, waist pain, typhoid, cough, skin infections/diseases. Furthermore the result revealed that in the peri-urban LGAs, the cassava farmers very often patronized the orthodox healthcare facilities more than the traditional healthcare facilities while in the rural LGAs the cassava farmers very often patronized the traditional healthcare facilities more than the orthodox healthcare facilities. The result showed that all the indices of healthcare facilities in the peri-urban LGAs were higher than all the corresponding indices of healthcare facilities in the rural LGAs. This implies that inequality in healthcare facilities was higher in the peri-urban LGAs than in the rural LGAs. Factors that influence patronage of healthcare facilities are sex, religion, and cost of transportation (positive and significant at 5% level), while farm size and health insurance were positive and significant at 10%. Round the clock operation of healthcare facility, income from farm and non-farm sources, geographical locations and attitudes of healthcare officials were negative and significant at 10%. For the peri-urban LGAs, the logistic regression showed that; education and farmers perception of delay periods were all negative and significant at 5%, while waiting time before seeing a physician and issue of down payment before commencement of treatment were all negative and significant at 10%. Finally, the study also identified some positive significant variables like age, farm size, level of education, extension visits, farming experience and access to improved varieties that led to increase in cassava output and if these variables are sustained, they will further enhance the output of cassava farmers in the study area.