PERCEPTION OF FARMERS TOWARDS TRAINING RECEIVED ON CASSAVA VALUE ADDITION IN OGUN STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

ABSTRACT The low returns of cassava farmers engaging in value addition amidst the opportunities available for income generation and export purposes have led to the need for training on value addition to enhance production and maximize productivity. Therefore, this study assessed the perception of farmers towards training received on cassava value addition in Ogun State, Nigeria. A two-stage sampling procedure was used to select 144 respondents for this study. A structured questionnaire was used to obtain from respondents data on personal and production characteristics of cassava farmers, level of knowledge and skill on the value-added products, farmers’ perception towards value-addition training received and constraints militating against uptake of value addition. Descriptive statistics (means, standard deviation and frequency counts) and hierarchical regression model were used to analyse the data. Results showed that 38.9% of the farmers were between 41-50 years of age, 64.6% were female, 79.2% were married, 46.6% had secondary school education, 56.3% had 6 to 15 years farming experience and 94.4% had 1 to 5 specialised trainings on cassava value addition in the past one year. Majority (80.0%) of the farmers owned their lands, 55.3% had farm sizes ranging between 1 and 2 hectares, 77.1% employed hired labour, 73.6% harvested 10 to 20 tonnes of cassava per hectare and 59.0% produced all the cassava used in value addition. Most of the respondents had high knowledge of garri (97.2%) and cassava flour (75.0%) production. Most (76.1%) of the respondents had adequate skill to process garri and reported that increased productivity ( =2.40) is a major factor in cassava value addition. Furthermore, 89.6% each of the respondents indicated that the high cost of production and a lack of farmers’ access to credit for operating and expanding their enterprise were the major constraints of cassava value addition. However, 40.0% of the respondents earned less than ₦50,000 before engaging in cassava value addition compared with 50.7% who earned more than ₦200,000 after engaging in it. Most of the cassava farmers desired training in cassava sweeteners (84.0%), cassava pasta (76.4%), cassava cake/bread and chips (75.7%) and tapioca (74.3%). Hierarchical regression model revealed that age (β = 0.39) and actual years of farming experience (β= 0.46) were significantly (p<0.01) related to productivity. Furthermore, age (β= 0.39, p<0.01), education (β= 0.18, p<0.05) and farming experience (β= 0.44, p<0.01) were significant factorsof relevance of training received. This study concluded that there is a need to encourage cassava farmers to acquire relevant training and skills in additional value-added products beyond garri which will enhance their productivity. Therefore, farmers’ capacity should be enhanced through periodic training to enhance their knowledge in cassava value addition.