Women cassava processors’ livelihood; implications for improved processing technology usage in Nigeria

Abstract

The study compared the impact of the use of conventional and improved cassava processing technologies on the livelihood of women processors in north central Nigeria. This study adopts a quantitative method using a well-structured interview schedule for data collection from 410 respondents. Descriptive and inferential statistics such as an independent two-sample t-test was used to analyze the data. The majority of respondents were married and between the ages of 31 and 50. The mean years of education for improved technology users (ITU) were 8 years, while that of conventional technology users (CTU) was 10 years. Majority of both ITU (88.9%) and CTU (63.9%) had more than 10 years of processing experience. Majority of ITU (89.2%) and CTU (97.1%) were educated. A little above average (ITU - 53.7% and CTU - 50.2%) had medium household sizes and average annual income of ITU: N = 528,654 and CTU: N = 294,610. It was found that improved technology users had a very high livelihood status, while conventional technology users had a low livelihood status (ITU 75.25 and CTU 52.50) which indicated that the use of improved technology enhanced women’s contribution to family welfare and improved their livelihood. The results of the independent two-sample t-test show that there is a significant difference between the livelihood of improved and conventional technology users (t = −18.614, p = 0.000). The government should therefore focus on the development of appropriate and cost-effective farm-level processing technologies and further encourage the promotion of improved investment heavily in subsidized cassava processing machinery to afford processors to acquire these machines at a reasonable cost.