Abstract
This study ascertained cassava farmers’ attitude towards participation in Root and Tuber Expansion Programme (RTEP) in Delta State, Nigeria. Multistage sampling procedure was used to select 120 respondents from the 3 Agricultural Development Programmes (ADPs) zones in the study area. The study was conducted from June to November 2018. Data on respondents’ socio-personal characteristics, income earned from cassava production and attitude towards participation in RTEP were generated using structured interview schedule. Frequency count, percentage, mean, Chi-square, Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) and multiple regressions were used to analysed data at p ≤ 0.05. The mean age, years of formal education and household size were 46 years, 9 years and 6 persons, respectively. Majority (85.8%) of the respondents were married with formal education (73.3%) and using family labour (37.5%). Most (60.0%) of respondents were cosmopolitan with more than once a week visit to urban centres, while 79.2% earned an average annual income of N234,641.67 from cassava production. A little above average (51.7%) had unfavourable attitude towards participation in RTEP. Age (β=-0.08), household size (β= 0.37) and income earned from cassava production (β= 5.47) were significant contributors to attitude towards participation in RTEP. This study concluded that the attitude of cassava farmers towards participation in RTEP in Delta State is marginally unfavourable and determined by age, household size and income. Therefore, it is recommended that government, development organisations and other stakeholders implementing the RTEP should organize intervention to increase income earned from cassava production, this will enhance favourable attitude towards towards RTEP.
Highlights
Cassava (Manihot esculenta, Crantz) is among the most important sources of carbohydrate in the world (Akinpelu et al, 2011)
Based on the objectives of the study, the following hypotheses were tested: there is no significant relationship between the socio-demographic characteristics of PPs and their attitude towards participation in Root and Tuber Expansion Programme (RTEP) in the study area; there is no significant relationship between the income earned from cassava production by PPs and their attitude towards participation in RTEP in the study area; there is no significant contribution of income earned from cassava production, age, marital status, educational status, sex of household head, household size and source of labour to attitude towards participation in RTEP in the study area
This implies that there was moderate income earned from cassava production in the study area
Summary
Cassava (Manihot esculenta, Crantz) is among the most important sources of carbohydrate in the world (Akinpelu et al, 2011). It is of major economic importance as food crop for approximately 200 million people in sub-Saharan Africa countries, including Nigeria (Afolami et al, 2015). Its economic benefits as well as ease of cultivation, low input cost, high adaptability to traditional farming systems and usefulness in ensuring food security has made it to resonate and towers highest among staple food and cash crops with respect to area cultivated and total production (Ajala et al, 2014; Okosun and Aihie-Ezomo, 2017)
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