Contributions of Women to Household Farming Decisions Among CocoaBased Agroforestry Households in Ekiti State Nigeria

Contributions of Women to Household Farming Decisions Among Cocoa-Based Agroforestry Households in Ekiti State, Nigeria

Project / Seminar Material
Reference ID: PS-6425-TM

DEDICATION

This research material titled “Contributions of Women to Household Farming Decisions Among Cocoa-Based Agroforestry Households in Ekiti State, Nigeria” is dedicated to God for his enabling grace, and to all computer enthusiasts who contributed to make life a pleasant experience during my research documentation.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I extend my sincere gratitude to all those who contributed to the completion of this project. Special thanks to my Supervisor (Name of your Supervisor), the Head of Department (Name of your HOD), the Lecturers in the department of Forestry, Book Authors and Profound Scholars of existing or related project material on “Contributions of Women to Household Farming Decisions Among Cocoa-Based Agroforestry Households in Ekiti State, Nigeria” for their invaluable guidance, support, and expertise throughout the journey.

I am also grateful to your study area (mention any funding organizations, if applicable) for their financial assistance. This research would not have been possible without the encouragement and assistance of some stakeholders (mention any mentors, teachers, or colleagues). Additionally, I would like to acknowledge the understanding and patience of my family and friends during this endeavor. Your unwavering support has been a constant source of motivation. Thank you all for being part of this meaningful endeavor.

ABSTRACT

This study examined the Contributions of Women to Household Farming Decisions Among Cocoa-Based Agroforestry Households in Ekiti State, Nigeria using cross-sectional data. The study used purposive, multistage and random sampling techniques for the selection of 120 cocoa-based agroforestry farm units that constituted respondents for the study. Theanalytical techniques involved descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis and multinomial logistic regression model. With regards to food crop production activities, the contributions of women to decision making were very high with mean values of between 2.48 − 3.19 on a 4-point scale, while that of the men were comparatively low with mean values ranging from 1.85 − 2.66. However, in the cocoa production activities, the contributions of women to decision making were relatively low with mean ranging between 1.42 − 3.23 compare to high contributions of men with mean values ranging from 2.82 − 3.94 on a 4-point scale.

The multinomial logistic regression result comparing high contribution (3) as base outcome, revealed that years of formal education of the women, financial contribution status of the women to farming activities, average number of hours spent on cocoa farm per day were negatively related while years of farming experience of the women and number of adult male farmers in a household were positively and significantly related with the probability of women making low (1) or medium (2) contributions to household farming decisions. The t-test of no significant difference between the contributions of women and men to farming decisions in the production of the integrated food crops and the cocoa revealed that, on the average, women had significantly higher contributions to decision making in food crop production activities while in cocoa production, men had significantly higher contributions. The identified constraints militating against women farmers were classified into three major factors using principal component factor analysis with varimax − rotated and factor loading of 0.30.

These constraints range from techno-institutional factor (lack of extension programmes directed to women, lack of access to NGOs programmes and low technical know-how); socio-personal factor (the belief that women are subordinate, low self confidence of women, multiple domestic responsibilities of women farmers) and economic / financial factor which include low/lack of financial contributions by women farmers to farming activities, involvement of the women in off farm jobs, lack of collateral security to secure loans to support farming and so on. The study, therefore, recommends inter alia, socio economic empowerment of women farmers, adequate extension services and training to meet technological improvement needs of the women and formulation of gender sensitive policies in favour of women in agricultural sector.

Contributions of Women to Household Farming Decisions Among Cocoa-Based Agroforestry Households in Ekiti State, Nigeria

CHAPTER ONE

1.1 Introduction

… As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research hypothesis and questions, Limitation of the study and Definition of technical terms.

…

CHAPTER TWO

2.0 Literature Review

2.1 Introduction

This chapter focuses on the review of related literature. A literature review includes the current knowledge as well as theoretical and methodological contributions to a particular topic. It documents the state of the art with respect to the topic you are writing. It surveys the literature in the topic selected. In this research work the literature review includes the …

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