Gender roles in soybean cultivation in central Benue State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study examined gender roles in soybean cultivation in 12 communities in central Benue State, Nigeria, with the aim of providing an understanding of role differences for planning gender-sensitive programmes that seek to reduce poverty and malnutrition, and attain food security . Structured interview schedule was used in collecting data from one hundred and twenty (84 males and 36 females) soybean farmers randomly selected from the communities. Percentages and means were employed in data analysis while T-test was used to test significant difference between males and females in mean roles and constraints in soybean cultivation. The results showed that male farmers contributed more in heavy tasks of land clearing, land preparation, fertilizer application, harvesting and bagging/packaging while females were more engaged in light tasks like seed selection, sowing/planting, weeding and threshing. The study revealed that female farmers were responsible for almost all domestic activities (cooking, wood collection, water collection and child care). The results further showed that both gender perceived lack of improved production methods, lack of farmer participation in technology generation, inadequate training opportunity, poor extension agent-farmer contact, lack of access to labour-saving devices, high cost of labour, poor access to credit, poor access to inputs, and poor pricing of produce as serious constraints to soybean cultivation in the study area. The findings showed significant differences in roles and constraints of male and female farmers in soybean cultivation. Keywords: Gender, roles, constraints, soybean cultivation