Assessment of Rural Households’ Involvement in Kolanut Production and Marketing in Ife-East Local Government Area of Osun State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study assessed rural households’ involvement in Kolanut production and marketing in Ife East Local Government Area, Osun State, Nigeria. A multistage sampling procedure was used in the selection of 125 respondents. Relevant data were collected on the socio-economic characteristics of the respondents, the management practices employed, the extension information needs, and constraints militating against Kolanut production and marketing in the tudy area with a structured interview schedule. Data were analyzed using frequencies, percentages, means, and Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation. Results of the descriptive analysis revealed that the mean age of respondents was 53 years, 74.0% were male and 67.2% were married. The mean household size, farm size in hectares, and farming experience were 7 persons, 4.2 hectares, and 28 years, respectively with the age of Kolanut as 37.7 years. More than half (52.2%) of the respondents had formal education, and various crops like orange, cocoyam, and plantain were intercropped with Kolanut. The majority (77.0%) of the respondents had access to extension services, while land preparation (3.67) was ranked first among management practices employed by the respondents. The extension information needed most was improved crop varieties (3.63), agricultural credit (3.58), and soil fertility (3.13), while information on production records and the use of ICT were not needed by the respondents. The results of a test of hypothesis show that marital Status (r=0.304; p=0.001), household size (r=0.195; p=0.029), and years of experience (r=0.199; p=0.199) had a positive and significant relationship with roles played by household members in Kolanut production and marketing activities. The study recommended that programmes aimed at improving the production capacity should be directed towards men while marketing should be directed towards women and children for sustainable agricultural development.