Effects of Road Infrastructure on Plantain Production among Farmers in Ekiti Southwest Local Government Area of Ekiti State, Nigeria

Road infrastructure is crucial to farmers’ productivity, transportation, marketing of food produce and food security.Therefore, this study examined the effects of road infrastructure to plantain production among farmers in Ekiti South LocalGovernment Area. Multistage sampling procedure was used to select 103 respondents for the study; data were collected usingstructured interview schedule. Data on respondents’ personal characteristics, perceived contribution of road infrastructureto plantain enterprise and constraints to plantain production and marketing were analysed with descriptive statistics, Chisquareand Pearson Product Moment Correlation statistical tools. Majority (75.7%) of the respondents were males, largepercent (70.8%) were ageing (50-70years), 71.8% cultivated 4-6 acres with a majority (79.6%) having more than 20years offarming and marketing experience. Almost half (47.6%) of the respondents earned between #31,000-#40,000 monthly andmajority (78.6%) indicated that their farms to the market were far and not motorable. About (65%) indicated that poor roadinfrastructure had negative implication on production and marketing of plantain. Educational level (χ2=14.13), farm size(χ2=0.932), monthly income (χ2=7.938), farming experience (χ2=11.831), marketing experience (χ2=10.609), farmers age (r= -0.375) and constraints to production and marketing (r = 0.261) were significantly related to effects of road infrastructureon plantain production. Hence, it is recommended that government should ensure quality rural feeder roads linking urbanareas for sustainable farming practices, reduction of postharvest losses and efficient plantain marketing.