FACTORS INFLUENCING FARMERS' LEVEL OF COMPLIANCE TO THE COCOA CERTIFICATION PROGRAMME IN IDANRE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF ONDO STATE, NIGERIA.

• O. Oduntan

  Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, The Federal University of Technology, P.M. B, 704 Akure.

  Author

• S. M. Adegbuyi

  Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, The Federal University of Technology, P.M. B, 704 Akure.

  Author

The Cocoa sector is facing a great number of challenges related to smallholder production, such as low cocoa tree productivity, low income for farmers as a result of uncompetitive market prices. On the other hand, despite the challenges in the sector, cocoa demand is on the rise. It is expected to be difficult to meet the future demand without additional interventions to increase productivity and output quality in the sector. However, supply chain players have been facing the increasing challenge of acquiring sufficient amounts of high quality cocoa beans to meet their demand. The situation has therefore led to an enormous gap in demand and supply of the produce to cocoa industries. The challenge now is how producers can sustainably cope with the needs of the ever growing and quality-inclined market. To improve the effectiveness of strategies and programs to increase production and quality, an in-depth understanding of factors affecting cocoa certification is needed. This study thus examined the factors influencing farmers' level of compliance to the cocoa certification programme in Idanre Local Government Area of Ondo State, Nigeria. Data were collected from the respondents with the aid of a structured questionnaire and analysed using a combination of descriptive statistics, gross margin analysis and tobit regression model. The findings indicated that cocoa production by farmers was a profitable enterprise in the study area. The results further showed that certification programme generates more income to farmers at a relatively minimal cost of production when compared to the conventional production. The results of the tobit regression model showed that marital status, sex, farm size and access to credit had a positive significance while farming experience had a negative significance as it influenced the level of compliance of the farmers to certification programme of cocoa production. It was therefore, recommended that since access to credit increases farmers' compliance to cocoa certification programme, government should ensure that cocoa farmers have more access to affordable credit facilities to boost their production. Sensitization and education of conventional cocoa farmers on the needs and benefits of certification should be intensified.

1. O. Oduntan, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, The Federal University of Technology, P.M. B, 704 Akure.

   Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, The Federal University of Technology, P.M. B, 704 Akure.

2. S. M. Adegbuyi, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, The Federal University of Technology, P.M. B, 704 Akure.

   Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, The Federal University of Technology, P.M. B, 704 Akure.

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