Gender Analysis of Cocoa Farmers’ Access to Production Resources in Ekiti State, Nigeria

• O.V. Ayodele

  Department of Agricultural Extension and Communication Technology, Federal University of Technology, P.M.B. 704, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria

  Author

• O.O. Fasina

  Department of Agricultural Extension and Communication Technology, Federal University of Technology, P.M.B. 704, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria

  Author

• A.O. Awoyemi

  Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension Services, Ekiti State University, PMB, 5363, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria

  Author

The importance of understanding gender relationships in resource allocation is crucial to agricultural development and hence cannot be overemphasized. The study evaluated farmers’ access and constraints in cocoa production activities in Ekiti State, Nigeria. Purposive sampling technique was used to select three Local Government Areas with the highest cocoa production. Data was collected from 117 cocoa farmers with well-structured interview schedules. Frequencies, mean statistic, percentages and ANOVA were used to analyze the data. The findings affirmed old aged cocoa farmers with the mean age of 54 years for male and 52 years for female. It also revealed older cocoa farms for female with an average of 42 years and 35years for male. There was low output for both gender with the mean of 8 bags for male and 7 bags for female. The mostly accessed production resource was water while extension service was the least accessed. Mean score for access to resources by men was 39.51 and 30.61 for female. The difference of 8.90 was significant at 0.05 level of significance (f = 40.94, p ≤ 0.05). This signifies a gender difference in access to production resources. However, good market price was the most prominent constraint affecting both genders, while health, availability of agrochemicals, finance and land among others affected farmers in cocoa production with women having more health challenges. It was concluded that, there was gender disparity in access to production resources. Therefore, it was recommended that, there should be gender equity in access to production resources so as to enable women maximize their full potential in agricultural production.

1. O.V. Ayodele, Department of Agricultural Extension and Communication Technology, Federal University of Technology, P.M.B. 704, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria

   Department of Agricultural Extension and Communication Technology, Federal University of Technology, P.M.B. 704, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria

2. O.O. Fasina, Department of Agricultural Extension and Communication Technology, Federal University of Technology, P.M.B. 704, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria

   Department of Agricultural Extension and Communication Technology, Federal University of Technology, P.M.B. 704, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria

3. A.O. Awoyemi, Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension Services, Ekiti State University, PMB, 5363, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria

   Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension Services, Ekiti State University, PMB, 5363, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria

• PDF