Assessment of information sources utilized by women farmers in the coconut industry in Lagos state.

Abstract

The study assessed the sources of the information utilized by the women in the coconut industry in Lagos State. The specific objectives are to determine personal characteristics of women farmers, assess the activities that generate income, sources and preferred sources of information on coconut industry and of respondents’ adoption of coconut technologies. A multi-stage random sampling was used to select 120 women farmers for the study while a pre-tested questionnaire was used for data collection. A five point likert-type scale was used to assess the women farmers’ information sources and preferred information sources. Findings showed that majority of the women farmers 69.5% were married and belonged to the age bracket of 30 – 49 years. The findings also showed that majority of the women (60.87%) had primary school education and about 35% had non – formal education. In addition, majority had house hold size of 6 and above (22.3%). About 78% of the respondents were members of coconut market women association. The major income generation activities the women were involved in were marketing of coconut seed nuts and evacuation of fruit to de-husking sites and dehusking of fruit for seed nut The majority of them preferred fellow farmers, family/friends, Radio, and Centre for Rural Development (CERUD) while the least desired source of information was Nigerian Institute For Oil Palm Research (NIFOR). Major technology adopted were de-husking of fruits and harvesting of coconut fruits. It is therefore recommended that various agricultural agencies involved in coconut industry should provide adequate information on modern coconut production, processing and marketing to enable the women have higher knowledge of modern technologies in the coconut industry and increase their income generation.

Key word: Information sources, women, coconut, Lagos