Correlates and Determinants of Involvement in Sweetpotato Production among Farming Households in Niger-Delta Area of Nigeria

Abstract

Information on determinants of involvement in sweetpotato production (SPP) in Niger-Delta Area of Nigeria is scarce. Determinants of involvement in SPP among farming households in Niger-Delta Area of Nigeria were therefore assessed. Multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select 330 respondents. Data were collected through structured interview schedule and analysed using descriptive statistics, Chi-square, Pearson Product Moment Correlation-PPMC and logistic regression. Age and household size of respondents were 42.9±11.9 years and 8.7±5.5 persons, respectively. Most respondents were female (53.3%), while 94.5% had no extension contact. Farming experience and farm size were 21.1±12.9 years and 5.4±5.1 ha, respectively. Employed labour per sweetpotato (SP) production cycle, SP farm size and farming experience were 8±6 persons, 2.6±3.5 ha and 18±12 years, respectively. Income from SP, other crops enterprises and non-crop livelihood activities were N2 637 552.0±3 362 512.0 yearly, N5 283 845.0±6 147 413.0 yearly and N1 733 562.0±2 175 223.0 yearly, respectively. Most respondents (56.4%) produced above one cycle per year. Limited knowledge on processing of SP (x ̅=1.88) was the major constraint to SPP. Above half (51.8%) of the respondents had low involvement in SPP. Gender (x2=6.79), household size (r=0.12), farm size (r=0.19), farming experience (r=0.12) and income from SP (r=0.19) were significantly related to level of involvement in SPP. Government and other stakeholders should organise intervention (training and workshop) on increasing income from sweet potato production.