Constraints to Rural Women Involvement in Cassava Value Chain in Nigeria

Abstract

Cassava is one of the fastest expanding staple food crops in cassava-consuming countries and has continued to gain prominence among farmers while the industrial demand is also rising consistently. The study was carried out with the intention of examining rural women's involvement in various cassava value chain activities and identifying the factors that hinder their active involvement in cassava value addition. The study employed descriptive statistics (frequency, percentage counts, mean, and likert scale) in the analysis. From the results obtained, more rural women were involved in the processing of cassava and marketing of the products while they really engaged families or hired labor in the planting and harvesting. The identified constraints facing the respondents were low returns (profit), lack of access to institutional credit, lack of farmland, theft, lack of storage facilities, and distance to market. The study recommended that government and the cassava industry stakeholders should support the rural women involved in the cassava value chain adequately as it would not only generate more profit for the women but also create more jobs for the youths and bring foreign exchange to the government.