This study investigates the role of rural road accessibility in enhancing agricultural development and food security in Kaiama Local Government Area (LGA), Kwara State, Nigeria. Recognizing the critical role of transportation infrastructure in facilitating the movement of farm produce, this research assesses how road conditions, distance to markets, transport availability, and travel time affect agricultural productivity. A structured questionnaire was administered to 150 respondents across five selected farming communities. Descriptive statistics and Multiple Linear Regression were used for data analysis.The regression result revealed a strong relationship between road accessibility and agricultural productivity, with R 2 = 0.78 and p < 0.001, indicating that 78% of the variation in productivity is explained by road condition, distance to market, transport availability, travel time, farm size, input use, and education. Specifically, poor road conditions (reported by 26.7% of respondents), high transportation costs (18.7%), and seasonal flooding (12.0%) were major constraints. Travel time showed a negative coefficient of -0.08, suggesting that longer travel times reduce productivity. Additionally, postharvest spoilage during transit affected 9.3% of farmers, underscoring the food insecurity implications of rural transport gaps.The study concludes that rural road access significantly influences farm productivity and food availability. It recommends targeted rehabilitation of rural roads, community-based transport initiatives, integration of transport planning into agricultural policy, and support for improved input access to enhance food security in Kaiama and similar agrarian regions.
Isah et al. (Tue,) studied this question.