Abstract
The study on the adoption of improved cassava production technologies among small-scale cassava famers in Anambra State, Nigeria, specifically; described the socioeconomic characteristics of small-scale cassava farmers, determine the adoption levels of improved cassava production technologies, examine the effects of socioeconomic variables on the adoption level and identified constraints to adoption of improved cassava production technologies in the area. A multi stage sampling technique was employed to randomly sample a cross section of 120 small-scale cassava farmers. Data were collected using a well-structured questionnaire. The data were analyze with a combination of tool like descriptive statistics, multiple regression and principal factor analysis. The study revealed that the average age of the cassava farmers was 44.08 out of which 51.67% are male. The average educational level (9.17), farming experience (14.89), household size (5.86), annual income (861.103 USD), farm size (0.15 ha) and extension contacts (3.59) were also revealed. The results further showed that out of the eleven (11) improved cassava production variables considered, the respondents have not fully adopted any of the technologies. Findings on influence of socioeconomic characteristics on adoption shows that F-statistic value of 4.05*** was significant at 1% level of significance, which implies that the predictor variables influenced adoption. Major constraints of the cassava farmers were rotated into three component factors which are institutional (25.4%), economic (17.7%) and managerial factors (12.6%) using principal factor analysis. A KMO of 0.580 and cumulative Eigen-value of 55.7% explained the variance of factors. We therefore encourage extension agents to sit up in disseminating recent innovation to farmers.
Highlights
Cassava plant is a native of South America which is botanically referred to as Manihot esculanta and commonly planted in the tropics for its starchy and tuberous roots used as food for many households [1]
The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) noted that Anambra State is one of the major State championing in cassava production in Nigeria [17]
This result was in agreement with the earlier findings of [8] on the adoption of improved cassava production and processing technologies in Oshimili Delta State, Nigeria in whose study revealed 65% of the farmers as male
Summary
Cassava plant is a native of South America which is botanically referred to as Manihot esculanta and commonly planted in the tropics for its starchy and tuberous roots used as food for many households [1]. Owing to the cassava importance in the nation’s food and industrial sector, the Federal and some State Government initiated programs and policies aimed at revolutionizing the crop. Some of the policies/programs are Presidential Initiative on Cassava (PIC), Root and Tuber Expansion Programme (RTEP), Cassava Enterprise Development Project (CEDP), and Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) among others [2]. Apart from cassava’s drought tolerant ability and resilience on marginal soil, it can be stored in the ground for more than two years, this potentials alone made the crop an important food security crop especially among rural household who cultivates the crop on a small-scale [5]. Since cassava has a very long chain in value addition, it can be locally processed into different
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