Effects of women access to factors of production on cassava production among rural farmers of Osun State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study investigated the effect of women access to factors of production in cassava production in Ayedaade Local Government Area of Osun State, Nigeria. Primary data were obtained from 90 representative female cassava producers drawn from four selected villages from the Local Government Area. Descriptive statistics and multiple regression technique of analysis were used to analyze the data obtained. Results of the study show that about 86.0 percent of the sampled women farmers were between the age brackets of 25 to 54 years, about 12.0 percent had no formal education, about 75.0 percent had between 1 and 10 years of experience in cassava production. However, findings reveal that majority (about 40.0 percent) of the respondents earned an income of between N3000 and N8999 from cassava production which is an indication of small scale nature of their farming business. Results show that only amounts of cassava farmland as well as the amount of labour accessed by women farmers were the only significant factors of cassava production. Hence, it was recommended that women cassava farmers should expand their scale of operation by expanding their farm size while government should institute appropriate policies in favour of women farmers.