Abstract

Economic and environmental pressure are being exerted on rural communities and their households due to the increase in quarry activities that is being necessitated by increase in demand for crushed rock, gravel and sand in road and building construction. This study therefore examined the vulnerability of rural households to risks associated with quarry activities in Oyo state Nigeria. Multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select respondents in Oluyole Local Government Area. A total of 143 households were sampled from communities that were within five kilometre radius of quarry site in the area. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected for the study. Qualitative data collected were used to buttress discussion of the quantitative data, which was analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson Product Moment Correlation and ANOVA at p=0.05. The mean age of the respondents was 42.5 years. More than half (61.5%) were male, while 83.2% were married and 44,8% and 2.8% had primary and tertiary education respectively. Majority (73.4%) of the respondents engaged in crop farming as their major livelihood activity. Quarry activities were perceived by 97.9%, of the respondents to have caused decrease in crop production due its effect on livelihoods and the environment. Thus majority (77.7%) of the respondents indicated high level of vulnerability of the residents to risks ensued by quarry activities. Diseases such as chronic cough, acute malaria, catarrh and shock due to blasting of rock were highly severe in the study area. Quarry activities in the area have led to migration of people from the communities for health and economic reasons. There is significant relationship between the educational level, household size of respondents and vulnerability to risks associated with quarry activities. Also, significant relationship exists between respondents? livelihood and their vulnerability to risks. Safety net should be provided for people in quarry activity areas across the country so as to reduce the negative effects of the activities on the livelihoods of the people, thereby reducing their vulnerability to associated risks.

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