ABSTRACT
This study examined the contributions of women to household
farming decisions among cocoa-based agroforestry households in Ekiti state,
Nigeria using cross-sectional data. The study used purposive, multistage and
random sampling techniques for the selection of 120 cocoa-based agroforestry
farm units that constituted respondents for the study. The analytical
techniques involved descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis and
multinomial logistic regression model. With regards to food crop production activities,
the contributions of women to decision making were very high with mean values
of between 2.48 – 3.19 on a 4-point scale, while that of the men were
comparatively low with mean values ranging from 1.85 – 2.66. However, in the
cocoa production activities, the contributions of women to decision making were
relatively low with mean ranging between 1.42 – 3.23 compare to high
contributions of men with mean values ranging from 2.82 – 3.94 on a
4-point scale. The multinomial logistic regression result comparing high
contribution (3) as base outcome, revealed that years of formal education of
the women, financial contribution status of the women to farming activities,
average number of hours spent on cocoa farm per day were negatively related
while years of farming experience of the women and number of adult male farmers
in a household were positively and significantly related with the probability
of women making low (1) or medium (2) contributions to household farming
decisions. The t-test of no significant difference between the contributions of
women and men to farming decisions in the production of the integrated food
crops and the cocoa revealed that, on the average, women had significantly
higher contributions to decision making in food crop production activities
while in cocoa production, men had significantly higher contributions. The
identified constraints militating against women farmers were classified into
three major factors using principal component factor analysis with varimax –
rotated and factor loading of 0.30. These constraints range from
techno-institutional factor (lack of extension programmes directed to women,
lack of access to NGOs programmes and low technical-know-how); socio-personal
factor (the belief that women are subordinate, low self confidence of women,
multiple domestic responsibilities of women farmers) and economic / financial
factor which include low/lack of financial contributions by women farmers to
farming activities, involvement of the women in off farm jobs, lack of collateral
security to secure loans to support farming and so on. The study, therefore,
recommends inter alia, socioeconomic empowerment of women farmers, adequate
extension services and training to meet technological improvement needs of the
women and formulation of gender sensitive policies in favour of women in
agricultural sector.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.6 Background
of the Study
Nigeria, like some
other developing countries is principally an agrarian nation with the greater
percentage of her labour force engaged in the agricultural sector of the
economy. The agricultural sector plays an important role in Nigeria’s economy,
contributing about 40% of the GDP (Olomola, 2006) and employing 65% of the
adult labour force (Adedipe, Okuneye and Ayinde, 2004). Of great significance
in agricultural sector in Nigerian economy is the tree crop sub-sector also
known as agroforestry. Agroforestry as a farming practice is the integration of
trees, shrubs, food crops and/or animals in an interactive manner (Okadi,
2007). Cocoa-based agroforestry is an agroforestry practice in which cocoa
trees for the production of cocoa beans are interplanted with arable crops.
This is one of the most popular agricultural practices in the southwestern part
of the country.
Cocoa is a high
valued cash crop among farmers in the major producing areas of the country.
Cocoa, Theobroma Cacao belongs to the family Sterculiaceae
(Uguru, 1996). According to Guy (1992) and Opeke (1996) varieties of cocoa
include; the Criollo, Trinitario and Foresterio Amazona.
The Foresterios also called Amelonado is widely grown in
Nigeria and Ghana (Olaitan and Austin, 2006). Cocoa originated from Upper
Amazon of Latin America from where it spread to all parts of the world. Its
cultivation started in Nigeria about 1879 when a local Chief established a
plantation at Bonny in Rivers State, Nigeria. However, cultivation in the
western Nigeria began afterwards. By
Cocoa was one of
Nigeria’s sources of foreign exchange earnings before the oil boom and up till
now it is still Nigeria’s largest agricultural foreign trade commodity. The
contributions of cocoa to the nation’s economic development are vast and have
been reported by many authors. Its contributions as a foreign exchange earner,
employer of labour, source of raw materials, source of revenue to governments
of the producing States and components of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) are also
well documented in literatures (Adetunji, Olaniyi and Raufu, 2007; Folayan,
Daramola and Oguntade, 2006; Nkang, Ajah, Abang and Edet, 2007)
The production of
cocoa in Nigeria witnessed a downward trend after 1970/71 season when its
export declined from 305,000 metric tons to 216, 000 metric tons in 1975/76;
150, 000 metric tons in 1982/83 and 120, 000 metric tons in 1985/86; thereby reducing the country’s world
market share to about 6% and its rank to 5th world largest cocoa
producer till date (Folayan, et al, 2006; Kwanashie, Ajilima and Garba,
1998). The decline in agricultural output in 1970s did not only coincide with
end of Nigerian civil war but also with the oil boom and the severe drought of
1972/73. The overall agricultural situation deteriorated, creating a wide gap
between the supply and demand for food locally and internationally (Alabi, 2003).
Akinola (2001) also attributed the decline in
production of cocoa within the period to a combination of labour shortages and
low producer prices. Low producer prices unfortunately resulted from the
monopolistic marketing structure erected in the name of commodity board (Cocoa
Marketing Board) which served as a great disincentive to cocoa.....
================================================================
Item Type: Postgraduate Material | Attribute: 114 pages | Chapters: 1-5
Format: MS Word | Price: N3,000 | Delivery: Within 30Mins.
================================================================
No comments:
Post a Comment