Shocks and Coping Strategies of Rural Households: Evidence from Ogo-Oluwa Local Government, Oyo State, Nigeri

Abstract

Rural households in Nigeria are vulnerable to shock becauseof their limited capacity to make informed decision onsecured coping strategies which is further aggravated by somehouseholds’ specific socio-economic characteristics. Attemptswere made to identify shocks being faced by households’ headsand coping strategies. Multistage sampling technique was usedto select 80 respondents and well structured questionnaire wasused to collect data through in-depth interview. Data wereanalysed using descriptive statistics to describe households’ socio-economic variables; Probit analysis was also used to determinethe relationship between personal socio-economic characteristicsof the respondents, shocks and choice of coping actions. Theresults revealed that a large share of households experiencemultidimensional shocks, which are mainly associated toecological but also suffer from other economic, demographicand social factors. Majority of households undertake copingactions in response to shocks; coping strategies employed butnot limited to include borrowing, distress sales of assets,remittances, adjustment in food intake, drawing on savings. Educational status, household size, per capita income, shocks type,coping strategies, among others are found to significantly affectthe choice of coping actions and are likely to have implicationsfor households’ future welfare status.

Keywords

• Rural households
• Shocks
• Coping strategies
• Probit model
• Nigeria