Livelihood Strategies of Female Indigenous Vegetable Farmers’ in Osun State, Nigeria

Adeolu B. Ayanwale,Christianah A. Amusan

doi:10.5539/jas.v6n10p96

Abstract

This study examined the socioeconomic characteristics, income profile and pattern of livelihood diversification strategies of resource-constrained female indigenous vegetable farmers in Osun state, which may serve as entry point for poverty alleviation and women empowerment in the study area. A total of 240 female indigenous vegetable farmers were surveyed through the use of pre-tested structured questionnaire during the 2011/2012 production cycle. The study established that the majority of the respondents were below 50 years of age (73%), married (78%) with more than 7 years of formal education (51.7%) and cultivated less than 1 hectare of vegetables (65%). Vegetable production is the most important source of income contributing about half of the total income of the farmers but its share reduces as total income increases. Cluster analysis identified six livelihood portfolio combinations- sole vegetable farming, vegetable and livestock farming, part time vegetable and livestock farming, mixed farming, arable crop farming, part time mixed farming. Part time mixed farming was the most successful livelihood portfolio because it had the highest daily per capita income (N 378.55), the highest proportion of the rich (72.73%) and the lowest proportion of the poor (4.55%), while, vegetable and livestock farming was most common among the poorest farmers (53.85%). A major policy implication of the results of the study is that multiple complementary economic activities such as milling and other food processing activities should be encouraged among the female indigenous vegetable farmers, to enable them generate sufficient incomes to improve on their livelihood.

Highlights

Indigenous leafy vegetables enterprise holds the greatest potentials for the provision of additional sources of food, nutritional value, and income for the rural resource-constraint women farmers in Nigeria
This study examined the socioeconomic characteristics, income profile and pattern of livelihood diversification strategies of resource-constrained female indigenous vegetable farmers in Osun state, which may serve as entry point for poverty alleviation and women empowerment in the study area
Part time mixed farming was the most successful livelihood portfolio because it had the highest daily per capita income (N 378.55), the highest proportion of the rich (72.73%) and the lowest proportion of the poor (4.55%), while, vegetable and livestock farming was most common among the poorest farmers (53.85%)

Summary

Introduction

Indigenous leafy vegetables enterprise holds the greatest potentials for the provision of additional sources of food, nutritional value, and income for the rural resource-constraint women farmers in Nigeria. In many parts of Africa, indigenous vegetables are considered to be “women’s crops” because they are mostly grown or gathered by women (Howard, 2003) for both domestic consumption and for sale in markets (Price & Ogle, 2008). Gathering plants takes place in fields when crops are growing, in fallow fields and in areas of secondary growth (Price & Ogle, 2008). This practice offers a significant opportunity for the poorest people to earn a living, as producers and traders without requiring large capital investments (Maroyi, 2011). Where indigenous vegetable is grown, its production is basically small-scale using traditional manual techniques. Production of indigenous vegetables often requires very little input save for occasional farmyard manure application and very rarely is chemical fertilizer used (Onyango, Imungi, Mose, Harbinson, & Van Kooten, 2009)

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