The traditional system of oil palm wine production in Igbo Eze local government area of Anambra state of Nigeria

Abstract

This study was carried out in the Igbo Eze Local Government Area of the Anambra State of Nigeria, approximately 100 km from Enugu, the state capital. Four of the sixteen communities that make up the Local Government Area were selected by random sampling. From each of the four communities, a village was selected at random and from each of those four villages, a random sample of fifty farmers was drawn. The system of oil palm wine production in the area of study can be described as traditional in the sence that it is based on methods which have been in operation for generations. The palms available for tapping are the wild palms, most of which are old and of dwindling productivity. Empirical evidence showed that the tappers had not been exposed to any changes in organisational structure or institutions concerned with the oil palm smallholder rehabilitation scheme which could be utilised to improve the productivity of their palms. Nonetheless, the traditional system provides the farmer-tappers with some means of livelihood. Being market-oriented, the farmers are keen on adopting innovations which promise increased palm wine yields and increased farm incomes. Government assistance, through the provision of credit on liberal terms to enable the farmers to improve and modernise their holdings, as well as the introduction of new oil palm varieties with increased yield potential, should be considered.