Abstract
The study was conducted in Ekiti State, Nigeria due to its predominance in cocoa production. It examined the variation in knowledge level on precautionary measures against pesticides health and environmental hazards among male and female cocoa farmers. 120 male and 120 female cocoa farmers were selected through multi stage purposive sampling technique from five Local Government Areas with predominance in cocoa production in the state. Data collected from the survey were analyzed with descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings indicated that male as well as female cocoa farmers in the study area had moderate level of knowledge to prevent them from the incidence of health and environmental hazards of pesticide usage, though male cocoa farmers had a better level of knowledge compare to their female counterparts. Majority (69.2 per cent Male Cocoa Farmers and 57.5 per cent Female Cocoa Farmers) had moderate level of knowledge. The overall result shows that majority 63.3 per cent of cocoa farmers had moderate knowledge in precautionary measures. This study also find out that despite that male and female cocoa farmers are knowledgeable about the precautionary measures of health and environmental hazards they seldom practice it, which in turn contributes to the incidence of the hazards. It was recommended that there should be continuous and regular training for male and female cocoa farmers as regards precautionary measures to be taken on pesticides usage to increase their knowledge base on pesticides hazards.
Highlights
Gender is a term that is defined by the culture of the society varies from one society to the other and from time to time [1]
The findings shows that higher percentage of female cocoa farmers (FCF) are in their active ages compare to their male counterpart, bringing improvement FCF involvement in cocoa production
The findings revealed that male had relatively higher farming experience than their female counterparts, which implies that male CFs will have better knowledge on cocoa production and precautionary measures of pesticide usage compare to their female counterpart
Summary
Gender is a term that is defined by the culture of the society varies from one society to the other and from time to time [1]. The word gender means more than being a male or a female It is a culturally ascribed role, responsibility, privilege, opportunities, as well as constraints to either of the sexes. Women role like men role is of great importance in agricultural production as they are International Journal of Applied Agricultural Sciences 2017; 3(6): 166-173 responsible for carrying out 70 per cent of agricultural labour, 50 per cent of animal husbandry related activities and 60 per cent of food processing activities [4] The involvement of male and female farmers in cocoa production in Nigeria in term of production and productivity and in the use of agricultural input such as pesticides and labour input was pointed out by [3]
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