EFFECTS OF COVID-19 ON SMALL-SCALE AGRIBUSINESS IN ENUGU STATE, NIGERIA

COVID-19 is one of the deadliest infectious disease that has affected mankind in recent time. The disease affected both public and private businesses. Thus, it has impacted negatively on the economy of many nations in the world. This study examined the effect of COVID-19 pandemic on the small-scale agribusiness sector in Enugu State, Nigeria. Data used for the study were collected from randomly selected 397 agripreneurs via a structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression were used for the data analysis. The results revealed that the production, marketing, supply and demand of agricultural produce drastically declined significantly due to the outbreak of the corona virus. The study further showed that COVID-19 has led to disruptions in rural agribusiness in Enugu state Nigeria by reducing the profitability of agribusinesses through channels such as high cost of seeds, credit sales, produce not harvested due to the pandemic, and unavailability of seeds. The coping strategies adopted by the agripreneurs to lower the effect of COVID-19 pandemic on their business were selling at home, paying their way to the selected market, selling on credit, reduction in prices, further processing of the product and engaging in lower scale sales. The study recommends provision of financial, input, technology and marketing support to the agripreneur by the government and nongovernmental organisations to ease the effects of COVID-19 on their business. These will encourage agripreneurs to maintaining a steady supply of agricultural produce and make moderate profits and also reduce hardship to the citizens.