Rural Women Involvement in Post-Harvest Rice Production Activities in Ekiti State, Nigeria

Abstract

Women play important roles in food production most especially in the rural areas of Nigeria. The study therefore assessed the involvement of women in post-harvest rice production activities in Ekiti State, Nigeria. A well-structured interview schedule was used to collect primary data from one hundred and twenty (20) women who were rice farmers. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. The study revealed that the mean age of the respondents was 41 years. Majority of the respondents were married (90.0%) with an average household size of 6persons. High cost of mechanical threshing machine ( 2.96) and inadequate finance ( 2.66) were the major constraints to respondents’ involvement in post-harvest rice production activities in the study area. The study recommends that women processors should form cooperative societies to procure combined harvesters, de-stoner, threshers and milling machines so as to reduce the drudgery involved in the processing of rice and rice processors should be given opportunity of financial assistance to procure essential storage equipment for their processing activities.