Involvement of rural households along enterprise value chain of the indigenous black-soap from ash-derived alkali

Abstract

The study assessed the involvement of rural households along the indigenous black-soap enterprise value chain in Oyo State, Nigeria. It specifically described selected socio-economic characteristics of the respondents; examined their reasons for involvement in the enterprise; identified their involvement in various activities at every stage along the enterprise value chain and determined their involvement levels. 210 respondents were selected for the study using a multistage sampling procedure. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected using an interview schedule and FGD respectively. Appropriate descriptive statistical tools were used to summarize the data while ANOVA was used to test the hypothesis. Results showed that the mean initial business capital was ₦12,817.63 while the mean monthly income was ₦21,953.03. Respondents were involved in the black-soap enterprise because it serves as a means of livelihood for the households (mean = 2.91) and is profitable (mean = 2.80). Involvement was high in the production stage, low in the value addition stage and moderate in the marketing stage. At p ≤ 0.01, a significant difference exists in the overall involvement level along the value chain across the study area (F = 8.99**). The study concluded that respondents’ overall involvement along the black-soap enterprise value chain was moderate.