Socio-Economic Evaluation of Cassava Production by Women Farmers in Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area of Enugu State, Nigeria

A research was conducted to evaluate cassava production by women farmers in Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area of Enugu State, Nigeria. One hundred and twenty smallholder female cassava farmers were selected using multi-stage sampling. Data were collected from the respondents using questionnaire and interview schedule. Then descriptive statistics (mean, frequency and percentage) were used in analyzing the data obtained. Result showed that 60% of the respondents were in the age range of 30-60 years. Seventy three percent of them had one form of formal education or another. Majority (78%) of them cultivated 0.5-2.5ha of land with cassava per annum indicating that they were mainly small-scale producers. The use of manual implements such as hoes and cutlasses was pronounced in cassava production by the women farmers. Furthermore, the dominant source of finance for cassava production was personal saving (82%) with only 8% of them obtaining micro-credit from banks. Then 94%, 10%, 3% and 1% of the farmers processed their cassava into garri, fufu, chips and starch respectively. Result also revealed a number of constraints militating against cassava production by the women farmers in the study area. These include among others; lack of finance (93%), high cost of fertilizer (88%) and sex discrimination (81%) in relation to access to land and decision making. Climate change was also found to be a significant factor constraining cassava production in the study area. It was suggested that the women farmers should constitute themselves into cooperative societies to enable them access loans from banks for cassava production.