Impact of Covid-19 Pandemic on Livelihood of Garri Agribusiness Owners in Ukwuani Local Government Area of Delta State, Nigeria

The covid-19 pandemic has had devastating effects in many countries across the World, affecting every aspect of Nigerian economy. Most countries in sub-Saharan Africa met the crises in a weak and vulnerable position. Aside from the heath/mortality effects of the pandemic in Nigeria, the seemingly clearer effect is the impact of lockdown measures on small scale agribusinesses owners and the economy at large. How people make a living and access markets is impacted by covid-19 across Ukwuani local government area and beyond. These disruptions are driven primarily by restrictions put in place to curb the spread of the virus. There are emerging signs of the negative impact of covid-19 on livelihood, income, nutrition and food security, including local food production and the informal economy’s food marketing system. This article examines the impact of covid-19 pandemic on the income and livelihood of small scale garri agribusiness owners; the level of income of garri agribusiness owners before COVID-19 pandemic and; whether agribusiness owner’s livelihood is positively correlated with the perceived presence of Covid-19 in personal network. Taro Yamani formula was used to determine a sample size of 399 respondents in the study area. Both descriptive and inferential statistics was used for data analysis. After analysing the generated data, the result of the study showed that before the pandemic, agribusiness owners made about ₦157,640 as profit. But during the pandemic, agribusiness owners experienced a decline in their profit (₦60,646.82).The study suggests/recommends some policy priorities; support food insecure households through direct food distribution; small-scale garri agribusiness household should collectively set up a food bank so as to assist each order in terms of need and; support vulnerable house hold to mitigate the impacts of income loss through credit access at 0% interest rate.