FACTORS AFFECTING AWARENESS OF MAIZE FARMER ON HEALTH RISK OF AGROCHEMICAL USAGE IN NIGER STATE, NIGERIA

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INTRODUCTION
The need to increase agricultural productivity is seen as one of the major way to effectively tackle the current global food crisis. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO, 2007) reported that Nigeria is blessed with a huge expanse of arable land, favorable climate, abundant streams, lakes, forests and grassland, as well as a large, active population that can sustain a highly productive agriculture with a great potential to become the food basket of the West Africa sub-region. Also, Aduba et al. (2013) has pointed out that Nigeria has about 79 million hectares of arable land, of which 32 million hectares are cultivated, both crop and livestock production remains below potentials although the average agricultural growth rate was 7% between 2006 and 2008, this growth lies below the 10% necessary for attaining food security and poverty reduction.
Maize (Zea mays) is one of the major staples in Nigeria after rice and wheat and is a cereal crop that is grown widely throughout the world in a range of agro -ecological environments. Maize was introduced into Africa in more than 150 decades ago and has since become one of the dominant food crops especially in developing countries of the world. It originated from South and Central America and was introduced to West Africa by the Portuguese in the 10th century (FAO, 2013). More so, maize is a hot season crop and is grown principally in areas with temperatures range of 21 -30ºC 70 -86 F), though seeds germinate best at a lower temperature range of 18 -21ºC ( Sowunmi and Akintola, 2010) in agricultural economy. It serves as both food for human beings, feed for animals and other industrial raw materials. Ironically, the demand for maize as a result of various domestic uses sometimes outstrips supply (Akande 2004, andJibrin et al., 2016).
Sadly, Nigerian agriculture has many features among which the magnitude of the farm size is most important. Over the past few decades, the farm size has decreased mainly due to inheritance and transfer, the growing increase in the number of farms might be due to combined effect of institutional, technological and demographic factors. The size distribution of farm holdings in Nigeria are categorized as: Small scale farms, ranges from 0.10 to 5.99 ha, medium scale, 6.0 to 9.99 ha and large scale above 10 ha. These classes constituted 84.49%, 11.28% and 4.23% respectively (Ado, 2016;Oksana, 2005;Oluwatayo, 2008;Opaluwa, 2014 andNational Bureau of Statistics [NBS], 2006). Furthermore, other factors like insufficient capital, price fluctuation, disease and pest, poor storage facilities have been linked with low maize production in the country (Ojo, 2003). Also, Jibrin et al. (2016) reported that shortfall of storage facilities make most farmers sell their produce at low prices immediately after harvest in other to prevent spoilage there by leading to poor prices for agricultural produce. Other constraints according the author include inadequate extension services, poor transportation facilities, pilfering (theft), poor prices for agricultural products and inadequate rainfall.
Therefore, the production of the crop must be increased in order to ensure food and income security through the development of improved maize varieties and technology. As a result of its high demand, maize is gradually becoming more expensive for poor consumers, thus the need for its increased production can never be over emphasized, the use of agrochemical (Badmus and Ariyo, 2011).
Agrochemical (fertilizer, pesticides, herbicides, and nematicides) have played an important role in the success of modern food production in terms of increased food production, increased profits for farmers and the prevention of diseases and maize farmers have been found to use a wide range of pesticides at different levels to reduce losses from pests and diseases (Silvanus, 2014). Furthermore, agrochemical have posed a number of problems for agriculture, including the killing of beneficial insects, secondary pest outbreak, the development of pesticides resistance pests, health problems for farmers that handle the chemicals such as abdominal pain, dizziness, headache, nausea, vomiting as well as skin and eye problems (Ecobichon,1996 andBanjo, et al 2010). World Health Organization (WHO, 2000) estimated that each year, 3 million farmers in the developing world experience sever poisoning from pesticides, about 18,000 of whom die. This means that the high probability of pesticides use and pesticides induced side effect growing in developing countries would be a reality if the farmers' rate of awareness, knowledge, attitudes and practices on pesticides use are not properly considered with necessary actions taken in accordance to the recommendations (Banjo et al 2010).
The general objective of the study was to determine the factors affecting maize farmer's awareness on agrochemical use in Niger State, The specific objectives were to: (i) describe the socio-economic characteristics of maize farmers in the study area; (ii) assess the awareness of farmers on the use of agrochemical; and (iii) describe the perceived health hazards associated with agrochemical use.

MATERIALS AND METHODS The Study Area
The study was conducted in Niger State, Nigeria. Niger State is located in the Guinea savannah ecological zone of Nigeria. In terms of land mass, it is the largest in Nigeria. It covers a total land area of 74,224km 2 accounting for about 8% of Nigeria's land area. About 85% of its land area is good for arable crop production (Niger State Geography Information System, 2015). It is located between Latitudes 8 0 11' N and 11 0 20' N and Longitude 4 0 30' E and 7 0 20' E (National Bureau of Statistics [NBS], 2015). It is bothered to the Northeast by Kaduna State and the Southeast by the Federal Capital territory, Abuja. The State covers an estimated land area of 76,363 square kilometers and a population of 4, 082, 558 people according to 2006 census (National Population Commission [NPC], 2006). However, the projected population as at 2017 using 3.4% growth rate is 7,141, 7331.
The State is has 25 Local Government Areas (LGAs) that are grouped into three (3) agricultural zones (I, II, and III) with the zones having eight (8), nine (9) and eight (8) LGAs, respectively. Nupe, Gwari, Hausa are the major ethnic groups in the State. The other minor ethnic groups are Koro, Kakanda, Kadara, Ganagana, Dibo, Kambari, Kamuku, Pangu, Dukawa, Angwai, Igbo, and Yoruba. The State experiences distinct dry and wet seasons in the southern parts. With annual rainfall varying from 1,100mm in the Northern part to 1,600mm in the southern parts and average annual rainfall is about 1,400. The State is blessed with abundant mineral resources such as gold, clay, silica, Kyanite, marbel, copper, iron, feldspare, lead, columbite, kaoline and tantalite (Niger State Ministry of Information, 2012). The State is agrarian and well suited for production of arable crops because of the favorable climatic conditions. The inhabitant of the State also rears some livestock like goat, sheep cattle and chicken among others (Niger State Ministry of Information, 2012).

Sampling Techniques and Sample Size
The respondents were selected using a multi-stage random sampling procedure. In the first stage, two (2) LGAs where randomly selected from each of the three agricultural zones in the State, i.e., Bida, Agaie, Chanchaga, Bosso, Kontagora and Mariga. Second stage involves random selection of two (2) communities/villages from each of the six (6) LGAs, i.e., Bia, Dabarako, Nami, Gipo 1, Birigi, Sauka-kahuta, Maikunkele, Tagwai, Kampani wuya, Tungan kawo Mariga and Durgu. The third stage involve sampling of maize farmers proportionately using Yamane's formula (1967) as used by Jibrin, et al. (2019); so, a sample size of 181 was obtained: (1) where; n = sample size, N = finite population, e = limit of tolerable error (level of significance = (0.07), 1 = constant. Applying the formula above, a sample size of 181 was obtained for Niger State.

Method of Data Collection
Data for this study was collected through primary sources. The primary data was obtained using questionnaire and complimented with interview schedules for the non-literate respondents.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Data in Table 1 showed about 34% the farmers where within the age range of 41-50 while their mean age was 43 years which implies that the farmers are still young and are expected to be more active and productive on the farm and this active age is likely to make them more responsive to the adoption of innovations than the older counterpart. This is in disagreement with the findings of Jibrin et al. (2016) who reported that maize farmers were within the age of 31 -40 years. 76.24% of the maize farmers sampled in Niger State where male while their female counter part accounted for 23.75%. This implies that maize farming in the state is dominated by male. The result is in consonance with the findings of Mohammed et al. (2013) and Oladejo and Adetunji (2012) who reported that maize farming in their various study area was male dominated.
Furthermore, about 88.95% of the respondents are married, 6.07% are single, 0.55% are divorced and 4.41% are widowed. Since the larger percentages of the respondents are married, it implies that the family sizes might increase and enhance provision of family labour. This agrees with the findings of Isah (2014) who opined that size of the family help to boost family labor as the author reported that 87 % of the farmers were married. The mean household size was 8 and is in disagreement with the findings of Franklin et al. (2017) who concluded that the mean household size of maize farmers was 6. Table 1 also revealed that about 73.999% of the maize farmers have one form of education or the other, the literacy level is generally high and this might have positive influence in their ability to adopt improved farm practices for maize production, thus leading to high productivity. Mustapha et al. (2017) opined that educated farmers and younger farmers were significantly more likely to use PPE compared to older famers with little or no formal education. while higher levels of education gives agrochemical users greater chances to information and more knowledge of the hazards associated with agrochemical use and how to prevent direct contact, less educated farmers may be disadvantaged in their ability to understand the hazard and caution on agrochemical safety and health information, how to prevent direct contact and how to follow approved safety and application guidelines. More so, from Table 1, 82.3% of the maize farmers in Niger State had farm size of less than 3 hectares. This implied that the farmers had small farm sizes which indicated the subsistence level of farming, mean years of farming experience of the sampled maize farmers was 13 while the mean for extension visit for the maize farmers was 2.0. The result is in line with the findings of Olaniyi and Adewale (2012) who reported that the average farm size of the farmers in the study area was 2 hectares while the mean farming experience was 12 years. The mean for extension visit for the maize farmers was 2.0. The result is in concordances with the findings of Ademiluyi, (2014) who found out the 72.97% of the respondents had no access to extension agents.

Awareness Statement of Maize Farmers on Agrochemical Handling
Table 2 presents data on awareness of maize farmers when handling agrochemical. Only 39.77% of the respondents read before opening agrochemical bottle agrochemical while about 88.95% of the maize farmers agree those agrochemicals are hazardous in nature.  (2019) Table 2 also show that 16.02%, 12.07%, 51.38% and 87.29% of the respondents agrees that they follow the instructions on the label, drink, eat or smoke while applying or mixing agrochemical, dispose unused container properly and that they consider wind direction before applying agrochemical.
Also, 53.59% of the maize farmers tends to apply recommended dosage to prevent environmental contamination and human health hazards, 94.47%, agree that over dose affects plant growth, 37.23% take your bath after spraying, 37.01% avoid the use of agro-chemical when advise not to work with such component, while 52.48% ensure proper ventilation before re-entry into their farms in order to ensure that they do not inhale the chemical. The result is in line with the findings of Adesuyi et al. (2018) who reported that only 22.10% of the respondents read agrochemical label, 51.90% strongly agree that agrochemical affect human health, 41.60% always take their bath after using agrochemical while 33.80 talk when mixing or applying agrochemical.

Perceived Health Hazards of Maize Farmers on Agrochemical Use
The result on Table 3 shows that pain and difficulty in the breathing where the most sever health symptoms respondents faced as a result of not adhering to agrochemical safety knowledge. Also, eye problem, sneezing ranked 2nd and 3rd with mean weight of 2.32 and 2.27, respectively. Furthermore, skin irritation was also severing among the respondents. The occurrence of these health symptoms could probably be to the fact that most maize farmers do not use the recommended personal protective equipment when handling agrochemical. The result is in consistent with the findings of Adesuyi et al. (2018) who reported that headache, itchy eyes, fatigue, skin irritation, dizziness and coughing as some of the health symptoms respondent face in the study area. Lekei and Ngowi (2016) corroborated this results by reporting that unsafe handling of agrochemical tends to increase the risk of pesticide exposure, which might lead to serious health challenges.

Factors Affecting Maize Farmer's Awareness on Agrochemical Use
Since the parameter estimates of the probit regression model provide only the direction of the effect of the independent variables on the response variable; estimates do not represent the actual magnitude of change or probabilities. Thus, the marginal effects from the model which measure the expected change in the probability of awareness with respect to a unit change in an independent variable are presented in Table 4.  Table 5 shows that age of was found to be negatively signed and significant at 5% probability level. This implies as the age of the farmers increase by one year the odds of their awareness on the use of agrochemical tends to reduce by -1.99 (-.0260101), i.e., older farmers are more likely to become aware of agrochemical use than the younger ones. This could be attributed to the fact that older farmers probably might have gathered more information and knowledge about agrochemical use over the years. The result is in contrast with the findings of Tijjani et al. (2018) who reported that as the age of farmer increases, the probability that the farmer awareness on the use of agrochemical decreases. Farming experience and farm size were positively signed and significant at 5% each with agrochemical awareness indicating that a year increase in experience and increase in 1ha of farm land will lead to increases in the odds of the variable by 2.41 (0227885) and 2.17 (1817965) unites, respectively. The reason is not farfetched as increase in farming experience and farm size will reduce the dependency on agrochemical because the farmer would have over the years gathered knowledge on better ways of handling their farming activities. The result is in consistent with the findings of Adeola and Adetunbi (2015) who reported that there is a relationship between framing experience, farm size and pesticides use.

Marginal Effects Obtained from Probit Regression Result
Membership of association and cost of seed have significant and positive relationship at 10% and 1% with awareness on agrochemical. This implies that a unit increase in association activities will translate into increase in the odds of agrochemical awareness by 1.75 (.1247753) while unit increase in the price of seed will lead 3.20 (.0000265) increase in the odds of agrochemical awareness this is because farmers might get to know how to treat and get the best out of their seed by learning from other association members which might make them depend less on agrochemical. The result is in agreement with the findings of Jianjun et al. (2012) who opined that belonging to association help farmers to gain more awareness on agrochemical there by reducing over use.
Furthermore, sources of information and labour have a significant but negative relationship with agrochemical awareness at 5% and 1%, respectively. This implies that a unite increase in these variables will lead to decrease in the odds of the above mentioned variable by -2.01 (-030938) and -2.80 (-.0197928) units, respectively. This could be to the fact that as maize farmers gets more information on agrochemical from different sources and engage competent hands in applying agrochemical; they will have better awareness on agrochemical use. The result is consistent with the findings of Franklin et al. (2017) who reported that more access to more information sources (television and radio) contributes significantly and are very effective in communicating to farmers who cannot read labels. The author also reported that smallholder maize farmers are more aware of agrochemicals use risk than large-scale farmers holding other factors constant which could be that large-scale farmers do not apply pesticides by themselves regularly and usually get this job done by hired labor.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Results of the study reported that maize farmers were majorly male, married with a mean age of 43 years; these were attributed to the tedious cultural practices involved in maize production. Also, respondents do not have adequate access to extension agents, thus, reducing their awareness on health risk associated with the use of agrochemical. It was discover that difficulty in breathing, chest pain, eye problem and sneezing top the health hazards table as perceived by the farmers. Majority of the farmers do not read agrochemical labels nor follow instruction before using them which could be attributed to their low level of education. Finally, it was discovered that increase in age, sources of information, labour reduces the odds of agrochemical health risk, while increase in farming experience, farm size, membership of association and cost of seed increases the odds of agrochemical health risk awareness. Based on these findings, it was recommended that: 1. Awareness campaigns and mass trainings on the use, handling and application of agrochemicals should be encouraged in order to achieve effective and safe use of agrochemicals by the farmers. 2. Governmental and non-governmental organizations should participate in increasing extension services in the study area in order to enlighten farmers on various precautionary measures to be taken while handing agrochemical. 3. Furthermore, farmers should be encouraged to join or form cooperatives societies as better relationships with other villagers helps to reduce agrochemical misuse. 4. Finally, women should be encouraged to take part in maize farming.