Vol. 119 No. 2 (2025)
Research Papers

Analysis of Ill-health Burden on Small-holder Agricultural Households' Welfare in Nigeria

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  • Shakirat Bolatito Ibrahim,
  • Chittur S. Srinivasan,
  • Nikos Georgantzis,
  • Dare Akerele
Shakirat Bolatito Ibrahim
Department of Agricultural Economics and Farm Management, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria
Chittur S. Srinivasan
Department of Agricultural and Food Economics, School of Agriculture Policy and Development, University of Reading, Reading, United Kingdom
Nikos Georgantzis
Burgundy School of Business, SW&SB, Dijon
Dare Akerele
Department of Agricultural Economics and Farm Management, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36253/jaeid-11978

Published 2025-12-30

Keywords

  • Ill-health Burden,
  • Agricultural Households,
  • Welfare,
  • Nigeria

How to Cite

Ibrahim, S. B., Srinivasan, C. S., Georgantzis, N., & Akerele, D. (2025). Analysis of Ill-health Burden on Small-holder Agricultural Households’ Welfare in Nigeria . Journal of Agriculture and Environment for International Development (JAEID), 119(2), 5–24. https://doi.org/10.36253/jaeid-11978

Copyright (c) 2025 Shakirat Bolatito Ibrahim, Chittur S. Srinivasan, Nikos Georgantzis, Dare Akerele

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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Abstract

This study empirically examined the economic burden of ill-health and the pathway of negative consequences of ill-health disability on small-holder agricultural households’ welfare (income and food spending) in Nigeria. The Nigeria’s Living Standard Measurement Study - Integrated Survey on Agriculture panel data (2010/11, 2012/13 and 2015/16) were used. Data analysis tools were descriptive statistics, cost of illness approach, and panel data instrumental variable regression model. Agricultural households whose members experienced ill-health disability had high direct and indirect costs of ill-health, with negative welfare consequences on the affected households.  Direct costs included the Out of Pocket (OOP) healthcare and other related costs; indirect cost was the cost of lost productive time to the households. The proportion of indirect cost to the average total cost of ill-health was 65%. As a proportion of households’ income, estimates of direct cost was about 19%, and indirect cost was 39%.   Results revealed that the pathway by which the burden of ill-health disability affected households’ welfare is through increased OOP healthcare expenditure and reduction in food budget. This study recommended the expansion of government-funded healthcare insurance to cover small-holder agricultural households and protect them from the direct and indirect burden of ill-health. Recognizing that findings are ceteris paribus, other complementary health financing efforts through the private sector, community-based initiatives and non-profit organizations in form of grants, loans and/or health related social corporate responsibility services are advocated to reduce productive days lost to ill-health and OOP payments which undermine agricultural production and household welfare. 

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