The impacts of good road connections on rural farming in Shongom Local Government Area of Gombe state, Nigeria

The role of road networks in agriculture can never be over emphasised. Amongst all the other means of transportation, road has contributed a lot to agriculture and rural development in Nigeria and many other African countries. Apart from the significant roles of discovering new areas and opening of better markets for farm produce, it enables distribution of agricultural outputs and inputs both within villages, towns and cities in the country and also used for conveying farm produce home from farms. The study investigated the impacts of good road connection on rural farming in Shongom Local Government Area of Gombe, Nigeria. Both primary and secondary data were used for the study to arrive at the better understanding of the situation of the rural roads in the study area. Using the Cochran’s Proportional formular, a total of 400 questionnaires were received from the total population and distributed to all wards in proportion to their respective population. A total of 387 questionnaires were retrieved and analysed. Qualitative data through focus group discussion were obtained on both impacts of good and bad rural roads on agriculture on the study area. Descriptive statistical methods were used in the analysis of the data. The result shows that there is poor rural connection in the study area. There are no roads linking villages within the study area, this has significantly increased the cost of transporting farm products home and also to the markets. The road connection in the study area ends in the ward headquarters which has less positive impact on farming activities in the villages. The impacts of both bad and good roads were identified and discussed as related to their effects on farming activities on the study area. The study finally concluded with recommending that for better rural connection in the study area, adequate funding should be allocated on rural roads connection and maintenance, strict monitoring and implementation should also be followed and punishment should be ascribed to any diversion of rural roads funds. This will significantly improve rural roads connection and will enhance rural farming, thereby attracting more labour force into rural farming and boosting the rural economy.