Impact of Returns from Cassava Production and Processing on Poverty among Women in Abia State, Nigeria

Abstract

Aim: To determine the impact of returns from cassava production and processing on poverty among rural women in Abia State, Nigeria. Study Design: Survey. Place and Duration of Study: Abia State, between July 2015 to April 2016. Methodology: Random sampling technique was used to select 120 women- 60 cassava farmers and 60 cassava processors- from selected rural communities in Abia State. Descriptive statistics which included frequency distribution means and percentages, as well as inferential statistics which included farm budgetary tools, head count method of estimating poverty indicators, paired t-test at 5.0% alpha level and Gini coefficient model were used to analyze the data. Results: The mean age of cassava farmers and the processors were 44 and 56.4 years respectively, and their mean annual income was found to be ₦234,580.67 and ₦198,280.33 respectively (1 USD = #400). Average total cost incurred per hectare of cassava production and per cassava processing household was ₦27, 812.93, and ₦33 146.16 respectively. Average revenue from cassava output and cassava processing was found to be ₦87, 836.67 and ₦79, 836.67 respectively. Cassava production enterprise had an average net income of ₦60, 023.74 per farmer per hectare, average profitability Index (PI) for all farms was 0.68, and Rate of Returns on Investment was 215.81%, Benefit-Cost Ratio was estimated to be 3.16. The processing enterprise had an average net income of ₦46, 690.51 per processing household. The average PI for all farms was 0.58, Rate of Returns on Investment was 140.9%, and the Benefit-Cost Ratio was estimated to be 2.41. The mean per capita income and mean per capita expenditure for the cassava producers and processors were ₦27, 296.00 and ₦ 16,566.00  and ₦16, 100.28 and ₦11, 684.8 respectively. Conclusion: Cassava production and processing in the area were profitable and has pivoted to be a veritable occupation that can lift a lot of rural women out of the pit of poverty; the return on investment in cassava is like no other. Access to extension services and credit was shown to be a bane to rural women making the best from cassava. To this end, it is recommended that extension bodies both public and private do more to educate rural women in agriculture, especially those in cassava production and processing on effective ways to source for credit to scale up their investments in cassava.