FARMING ANXIETY AS A PREDICTOR OF FARMERS INTENTION IN THE ERA OF FARMING INSECURITIES

Over the years, Nigeria and other African countries have witnessed an increasing rate of insecurities that cuts across all aspects of society. The growing trend of farmer-herdsmen conflict, banditry, and kidnapping that characterizes the contemporary farming sector is undoubtedly affecting the socio-economic growth and food production in the country. There is a growing concern about farmers motivation and willingness to access their farmlands in this era of constant insecurity. The present study aimed to examine farming anxiety as a psychological construct that could account for the variation in farming intention among the farmers. The study was conducted in the middle-belt region of Nigeria, and four hundred and thirteen farmers drawn from some volatile communities in Benue, Kogi, and Nasarawa state participated in the study. The respondents completed self-report measures of farming anxiety and intention. The regression analysis performed on the data revealed a positive interaction between the independent and dependent variables. Thus, the study concluded that farming anxiety is a significant predictor of farming intention.