Bello 1, O. G., Orifah 1*, M. O., Oladipo 2, F. O. and Ijeoma 3, M. C.

Transcription

1 USE OF IMPROVED GROUNDNUT PROCESSING TECHNOLOGIES AMONG WOMEN PROCESSORS IN JIGAWA STATE, NIGERIA ABSTRACT Bello 1, O. G., Orifah 1*, M. O., Oladipo 2, F. O. and Ijeoma 3, M. C. 1 Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, Faculty of Agriculture, Federal University Dutse, PMB 7156, Dutse, Jigawa State, Nigeria. 2 Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development, University of Ilorin, PMB 1515, Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria. 3 Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development, Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo state, Nigeria. martinsorifah@gmail.com, The study investigated the use of improved groundnut processing technologies among women processors in Jigawa State, Nigeria. Multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select 120 respondents for the study. A well-structured interview schedule was used to collect data from the respondents. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results showed that mean age of respondents was 32 years and majority (67.5%) were married, Muslims (84.2%) with a mean income of N17, 935 and a mean household size of 11 persons. Majority had Islamic education (77.5%) and processing experience (50.8%) of years. Farming (79.2%) was the secondary occupation and cooperative movement (73.3%) and personal contribution (48.3%) were the major source of funds for processing. The major source of information on processing was neighbours (68.3%) and the main source of labour was family (80.0%). The f use of improved groundnut processing technologies was low (40%). Major technologies available to the processors were Groundnut Sheller (80.0%), Solvent Extractor (74.2%), Groundnut Roaster (72.5%), and Oil Pressure Machine (65.0%). Majority of the respondents had access to Groundnut Sheller (77.0%), Groundnut Roaster (69.0%), Oil Extractor (60.0%) and Solvent- Extractor Techniques (50.0%). Respondents major constraints were lack of capital for the business), inadequate processing equipment/training, high purchasing price of machine, and lack of institutional credit lenders. The result of the Chi-square showed that educational level (χ 2 =14.090, p<0.1), average monthly income (χ 2 =13.277, p<0.01), processing experience (χ 2 = 16.01, p<0.01), availability (χ 2 =6.635, p< 0.05) and access (χ 2 =4.546, p<0.05) were significantly related to use of improved groundnut processing technologies. The study recommended that efforts be made to make these technologies available and accessible to processors through awareness creation and the provision of credit. Keywords: Women, improved groundnut processing technologies, availability, access, use, Jigawa state INTRODUCTION Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.), also known as peanut, is a legume that ranks 6th among the oilseed crops and 13th among the food crops of the world and aside providing high quality edible oil, easily digestible protein, and nearly half of the 13 essential vitamins and 7 of the 20 essential minerals necessary for normal human growth and maintenance, it also produces high quality fodder for livestock (ICRISAT, 2010). According to Pocketbook FAOSTAT (2015) world groundnut production stood at 42.8 million tons in 2013 with Asia (67.1%) and Africa (24.6%) contributing the lion share and Nigeria ranks third in the league of groundnut producing nations just after China and India. In Nigeria, the leading producing States include Niger, Kano, Jigawa, Zamfara, Kebbi, Sokoto, Katsina, Kaduna, Adamawa, Yobe, Borno, Taraba, Plateau, Nasarawa, Bauchi, and Gombe States (NAERL, 2011). Groundnut is cultivated by small holder farmers particularly in rural areas; it plays an important role in the livelihoods of smallholder farmers. Women constitute a chunk of the agricultural productive force in Africa. In Nigeria, they are actively involved in farming activities and constitute about 60-80% of the labour used for farming activities like planting, weeding, transportation, processing, marketing and storage of products and they also account for two-thirds of food crops produced in the country (RMRDC, 2013; Bawa et al., 2014). Groundnut has contributed extremely to the development of the Nigerian economy through the sales of seeds, cakes, oil and haulms (Olorunju et al., 1999; Mustapha et al, 2015). In terms of oil production, available statistics from Pocketbook FAOSTAT (2015), showed that between 1993 and 2013, on the average, Africa contributed approximately 1.1 million (21.3%) tons of her groundnuts to oil production and in 2013, Nigeria contributed approximately 312 thousand tons of her groundnuts to oil production. These statistics highlights the importance of groundnut to the Nigeria economy particularly for smallholder farmers. Groundnut is a woman s crop in countries in West Africa. In Mali, 85 per cent of private/individual plots belong to women and in Niger 35 per cent while In Nigeria, there is little participation of women in groundnut production activities, but they are strongly involved in local groundnut processing activities (Anchirinah et al., 2001). Opportunities in food processing are enormous; this re-echoes the position of Ihekoronye and Uzomah (2011), who opined that food processing brings wide range of benefits to enterprising people in developing countries. They further argued that these opportunities include the potential for adding value to basic agricultural produce which will in turn promote access to wider markets, improve small-scale producers and entrepreneurs income- NJAFE VOL. 12 No. 4,

2 earning ability, allowing improved use and control of local resources and as well as helping to create employment for poor people, particularly in the rural areas. The proliferation of small scale industries with cutting edge technologies is essential to ensure that these benefits are achievable but then, the use of these technologies is greatly underscored by the lack of access to these technologies particularly for the women. Studies have also shown that rural women are usually disadvantaged in their access to all factors of production and processing in spite of their involvement in farming generally (Ani, 2004). Oladeji and Thomas (2010) also highlighted poor electricity supply, high cost of petrol, lack of credit facilities, high purchasing price of technologies and lack of operational facilities for processing as the major constraints faced by women processors. The poor access to technology by women in agriculture relative to their male counterpart is worrisome, considering the fact that some of these women are household heads themselves. According to Wanyeki (2003), existing statutory and customary laws limit women s access to land and other types of property in most countries in Africa and about half the countries in Asia. This is indeed a source for concern for developing countries where women play active roles in production and processing as the lack of access to productive resources create grievous consequences for usage. In the Northern part of Nigeria, most rural women do not farm or sell agricultural produce but do more processing. Men are more involved in agricultural activities than women because women are in partial or total seclusions in the Islamic States (Esther and Kemi, 2015). Ensuring that women in this region are empowered to effectively contribute to agricultural development at the household, local, state and national levels particularly through processing where their efforts are very much felt, requires policy adjustment that will foster the adoption of improved processing technologies. It is against this backdrop that this study investigates the use of improved groundnut processing technologies among women processors in Jigawa State. The general objective of this study is to investigate the use of improved groundnut processing technologies among women in Jigawa State, Nigeria. Specific objectives of the study were to identify the socio-economic characteristics of the respondents, determine the available groundnut processing technologies, examine access to improve groundnut processing technologies, use of improved groundnut processing technologies and ascertain the constraints to groundnut processing enterprise creation. MATERIAL AND METHODS Study area The study was conducted in Jigawa State Nigeria. It is situated in the north-western part of the country between latitudes N and N and longitudes 8.00 E and E. The State has a total land area of approximately 22,410 km 2 with twenty seven (27) Local Government Areas (LGAs). Soil tends to be fertile, it ranges from sandy-loamy with many pockets of Fadama and alluvial plains suitable for the cultivation of rice, sugar-cane, millet, vegetables, sorghum etc. There are usually two seasons in the State including rainy season that lasts from June through October and dry season spanning from November to May. The mean temperature ranges from 35 C in October to about 50 C in May, while mean annual rainfall varies from 700 mm to over 1000 mm and can last up to 200 days in some lowland within the State. The months of November to March are particularly cold due to dry harmattan wind. Jigawa is predominantly an agrarian State with over 80% of the population involved in Agriculture. The major rain fed crops grown in the State includes millet, sorghum, cowpea, groundnut, cocoyam, soya beans. Dry season crops include sugarcane, hot pepper, okra, tomatoes, onions and spinach. The major rivers in the State that provide water for irrigation activities are the Hadejia and Katagum rivers. The Hadejia-Nguru River has the largest Fadama area in Nigeria (Illo et al., 2015). Jigawa State is divided into four ADP Zones. Study design The population for the study comprises of all the women groundnut processors in Jigawa State. A multistage sample procedure was employed for the study. The first stage, involves a purposive selection of ADP Zone 1 which comprised seven (7) LGAs including Dutse, Kiyawa, Jahun, Buji, Brinikudu, Gwaram, and Miga because of high concentration of women groundnut agro-processors in the zone. The second stage is the random selection of three (3) LGAs including Brinin-kudu, Miga and Gwaram. The third stage involved the random selection of one community (Kiyoka, Hantsu and Dingaya) from each of the LGAs. The fourth stage is the random selection of forty women agro-processors from each of the communities from the list of the women agro-processors generated through snowball sampling technique given a sample size of 120 respondents for the research. Wellstructured interview schedule was used to collect data on respondents socioeconomic characteristics, improved processing technologies available and accessible, level of use and constraints to use of these technologies. The data were subjected to both descriptive and inferential statistical analysis. The descriptive statistics used to present the data included frequencies and percentages. Inferential statistics used was chi-square, it was used to show the relationship between socioeconomic characteristics, availability of improved groundnut processing technologies, access to improved groundnut processing technologies and use of improved groundnut processing technologies NJAFE VOL. 12 No. 4,

3 RESULT AND DISCUSSION Socioeconomic characteristics of the respondents Table 1 showed that majority of the respondents (87.5%) were within the ages of years. The mean age of respondents was 32.3 years implying and Oladeji and Thomas (2010) and Folorunsho and Okoroji (2015) had reported that the population within this age group are productive, energetic and constitutes active work force. The marital status distribution showed that majority of the respondents (67.5%) were married, this implies that most of the respondents are married and suggest that they are actively involved in livelihood activities to cater for the household needs. This assertion is in line with the position of Akinbile (2007), that marriage confers responsibility. Majority of the respondents (84.2%) are Muslims, 65.0% had a household size of between 6-10 persons with a mean household size of 11, and this large household size is peculiar to rural areas where it constitute the major labour force. This assertion is in line with Folorunsho and Okoroji (2015) who agreed that household of this range has a great capacity to reduce the incidence of food insecurity at both household and community levels. About 50.8% of the respondents have a mean processing experience of 15 years. Majority (79.2%) of the respondents indicated farming as their primary occupation. Majority (77.5%) had Islamic education while only about 5% had above primary education. This implies that majority have low formal educational profile and this may perhaps be an impediment to access to improve technology. This assertion agrees with the position of Esther and Kemi (2015) who posited that there is the need for a type of education which must equip the receiver with necessary skills to face the challenging situations which can be economic, social, political and cultural in nature. A little above half (55.8%) of the respondents had an average monthly income that ranges between N11,000- N20,000, with a mean income of N17, 935. The major sources of information on groundnut processing was neighbours (68.3%) while extension agent (1.7%) was the least source of information on improved groundnut processing technologies. The result also suggested that these information outlets are underutilised and at such efforts should be made to effectively incorporate these sources in disseminating information on the technologies. Major source of labour for groundnut processing was family (80.0%). Majority (73.3%) of the respondents were members of cooperative society. Major source of fund for the business is personal contribution (48.3%) followed by cooperative society (30.0%), family support (19.2%) and community bank (2.5%). Types of groundnut processing technologies available The result in Table 2 revealed that Groundnut Sheller Machine (80.0%) was the most prominent type of technologies available to respondents. This was followed by Solvent-Extraction Technique (74.2%), Groundnut Roaster (72.5%) and Oil Pressure Machine (manual) (65.0%). About 40.0% of the respondents were exposed to improved groundnut kneading while 30.0%, 26.7%, 17.5% and 10.8% asserted that Oil Clarifier, Groundnut Desk Inner, Groundnut Cake Fryer and Groundnut Cake Fryer Technologies respectively were available. This implies that the respondents are only exposed to few groundnut processing technologies while others were fairly available for use. It therefore implies that, majority of the respondents depend on manual or traditional technology to execute some vital processes. Accessibility to groundnut processing technologies Table 3 shows that respondents have the highest access to Groundnut Sheller (77.0%) followed by Groundnut Roaster (69.0%), Oil Extractor (60.0%), Solvent-Extractor Techniques (50.0%), Groundnut Cake Drier (8.0%), Groundnut Deskinner (6.0%), Oil Clarifier (3.0%) and Groundnut Kneading (2.0%). Respondents had no access (100.0%) to Groundnut Cake Fryer. This implies that majority of the improved groundnut processing technology were not accessible. This also suggested that respondents had alternative means to complete the processing process. The result is in tandem with the position of Ani (2004) that rural women are usually disadvantaged in their access to all factors of production and processing in spite of their involvement in farming generally. Use of improved groundnut Processing Table 4 shows that respondents use of improved groundnut processing technology was highest for Decorticator (63.5%) while Groundnut Roaster (40%), Oil extractor (35.0%) solvent-extractor (12.5), Groundnut Kneading (2.0%), Groundnut Desk Inner (6.0%), Oil Clarifier (2.5%), Groundnut Cake Drier (0%), and Groundnut Cake Fryer (0%) recorded low use among respondents. The categorization of the level of use on table 5 shows that majority (60%) of the respondents indicated low level of use of improved groundnut processing technologies. The low use maybe attributed to the non-availability and inaccessibility of these improved technologies. It also suggests that respondents still rely on the use of traditional manual methods of processing. Constraints to groundnut processing Table 6 shows that the highest constraint was lack of capital for the business and inadequate processing equipment/training (M=1.96), followed by high purchasing price of machine (M=1.93), lack of institutional credit lenders/ collateral (M=1.91), high prices of petrol and diesel to power the machine (M= 1.88), poor electricity supply (M= 1.58), and poor extension service delivery (M= 1.53), while the least constraints faced by respondents includes inadequate raw materials (M=1.21), lack of manpower/ labour (M=1.26) and marketing NJAFE VOL. 12 No. 4,

4 Table 1: Socio-economic characteristics of the respondents Variables Frequency Percentage Mean Age Marital status Singled Married Divorced Widowed Separated Religion Islamic Christianity Traditional Household size Secondary occupation Farming Artisan Educational level Primary Education Secondary Education Tertiary Education Islamic Education None Source of information Radio Television Extension Agent Neighbours/Friends NGOs Average monthly income 6,000-10, ,000-20, N17, ,000-30, ,000-40, , Source of fund Cooperative Community bank Personal Family /relatives Processing experience Source of labour Family Hired Communal Member of social group Cooperative Islamic Society Christianity Society Others Table 2: Distribution of respondents on the types of groundnut Processing technologies available Processing Technologies Yes Ranking Frequency Percentage Groundnut Sheller/Decorticator st Oil Extractor/ Oil th Pressure Machine (manual) Groundnut Roaster rd Groundnut Kneading th Groundnut Deskinner th Oil Clarifier th Solvent- Extraction nd Technique Ground Cake Drier th Ground Cake Fryer th Table 3: Accessibility of respondents to groundnut processing technologies Variables Frequency Percentage Decorticator (Sheller) No access Access Oil extractor No Access Access Groundnut roaster No Access Access Groundnut kneading No Access Access Groundnut deskinner No Access Access Oil clarifier No access Access Solvent-extraction technique No access Access Groundnut cake drier No access Access Groundnut cake fryer No access Access 0 0 Table 4: Respondents use of improved groundnut processing technologies Variables Yes Frequency Percentage Decorticator (Sheller) Oil Extractor Groundnut Roaster Groundnut Kneading Groundnut Desk Inner Oil Clarifier Solvent-Extraction technique Groundnut Cake Drier 0 0 Groundnut Cake Fryer 0 0 NJAFE VOL. 12 No. 4,

5 Table 5: categorization of respondents level of use of improved groundnut processing technologies Level of use Scores Frequency percentage Mean Low ±1.79 High Table: Constraints to use of improved groundnut processing technologies Constraints to Groundnut Processing Mean Standard Deviation Ranking Lack of institutional credit lending facilities th Lack of capital for the business st Inadequate processing equipment st Transportation th Inadequate raw materials th Poor extension service delivery th Poor electricity supply th High purchasing price of machine rd High price of petrol/diesel th Lack of manpower/labour th Marketing problem th problem (M=1.47). The findings corroborates the position of Oladeji and Thomas (2010) that the major constraints faced by women processors include poor electricity supply, high cost of petrol, lack of credit facilities, high purchasing price of technologies and lack of operational facilities for processing groundnut. The implication is that the possibilities to use these improved technologies among respondents becomes a mirage. The results also suggest that steps to ensure that these technologies are made handy should be considered to ensure that women are able to maximize their productivity potentials in this area and effectively contribute to the economic wellbeing of the households. Relationship between the socio-economic characteristic and improved groundnut processing technologies The result in Table 5 shows that only educational level, average monthly income, and years of processing experience were significantly (p<0.01) related to use of improved groundnut processing technologies. This implies that level of education, income and years of experience influences the use of improved groundnut processing technologies. Thus. As the variables increases use of improve groundnut processing technologies will also gain acceptance. The result is in agreement with the findings of Adesope et al. (2010) who found out that level of education, income and years of experience were determinants in the adoption of improved groundnut processing technologies. Table 5: Result of the Chi-square test between socio-economic characteristic and use of improved groundnut processing technologies Socioeconomic Characteristics χ 2 value DF P-value Decision Educational Level Significant Average Monthly Income Significant Years of Processing Experience Significant. Chi-square test between availability, access and use of improved groundnut processing technologies The result on table 6 shows that availability (χ 2 =.6.635, p 0.010) and access χ 2 = 4.546, p 0.033) were significantly related to use of improved processing technology. It therefore means that as availability and access to these technologies improves, the greater will be the tendency to use improve groundnut processing technologies, This implies that availability and access influences use of improved groundnut processing technologies among respondents. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS The level of use of improved groundnut processing technologies among respondents was low, the most available and accessible technologies were Groundnut Sheller, Solvent-Extraction technique, Groundnut Roaster and Oil Extractor. Major constraints to the use of improved groundnut processing technologies are lack of capital, inadequate processing equipment, high cost of the machines, lack of institutional money lenders, high prices of petrol/diesel and poor supply of electricity. In order to enhance the use of improved groundnut processing technologies, efforts to make these technologies available and accessible to processors should be considered, NJAFE VOL. 12 No. 4,

6 efforts should also be geared towards ensuring that women have access to credit facilities and steps should also be taken to ensure that information on these technologies are easily accessed through harnessing the potentials of the underutilized information sources. Table 6: Result of the Chi-square test between availability, access and use of improved groundnut processing technologies Variables χ 2 value DF P-value Decision Availability Significant Access Significant. REFERENCES Adesope, O. M., Nwakwasi, R. N., Matthews-Njoku, E. C. and Chikaire, J Extent of rural women s involvement in the Agro-processing enterprise of The National Special Programme for Food Security in Imo State, Nigeria. Report and Opinion, 2(7): Akinbile, L. A Standardization of socio-economic status (SES) scale for farm family in south-west Nigeria. Journal of social sciences, 14(3): Anchirinah, V. M., Yiridoe, E. K. and Bennett-Lartey, S. O Enhancing sustainable production and genetic resource conservation of bambara groundnut: a survey of indigenous agricultural knowledge systems. Outlook on Agriculture, 30(4): Ani, A. O Women in agriculture and rural development. Priscaquila Press, Maiduguri Bawa, D. B., Donye, A. O. and Nuhu, H. S Analysis of the Role of Women in Seed Security in Lamurde Local Government Area, Adamawa State, Nigeria. Journal of Biology, Agriculture and Healthcare, 4(26): Folorunsho, S. T. and Okoroji, E. O Analysis of factors affecting the performance of Samaz 15 Maize variety among farmers in Riyom Local Government Area of Plateau State, Nigeria. Proceedings of the 29 th Annual Conference of Farm Management Association of Nigeria Dutse, Ihekoronye, A. I. and Uzomah, A Manual on Small-Scale Food Processing. A guide to opportunities for enterprise development in Small scale food processing. Springfield Publishers Ltd, pp.3 Illo, A. I., Ango, A. K., Usman, H. and Aminu, Z Role of International Fund for Agricultural Development/ Community Based Agricultural and Rural Development Programme (IFAD/CBARDP) in Improving the Livelihood of Rural Women: A Case Study of Aliero Local Government Area, Kebbi State, Nigeria. National Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences, 23(1): International Crop Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) Eastern and Southern African (2009 Highlights), pp1-40. Mustapha, S., Mohammed, U. M., Adeosun, N.O., Mathew, T. J., Muhammed, S. S. and Ibn-Aliyu, A Nutritional and functional characterization of undecorticated Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) seeds from Bosso market, Minna, Nigeria. American Journal of Food Science and Technology, 3(5): NAERL, Agricultural survey for 2011 wet seasons National Agricultural Extension Research and Liaisons Service. Oladeji, J. O., and Thomas, K. A Social marketing approach as an alternative extension delivery for nutrition intervention among women in Osun State, Nigeria. International Journal of Applied Agricultural Research, 5(5): Olorunju, P. E., Alabi, O. and Tanimu, B Priorities and strategies for groundnut research in Nigeria. Paper presented at the national workshop on groundnut rehabilitation in Nigeria, Kano, May, pp15, Pocketbook FAOSTAT World Food and Agriculture Rome: FAO RMRDC Raw Material Development for the Transformation of the Manufacturing Sector in Nigeria. Technical Publication Series, 13(1). Wanyeki, L. M Women and land in Africa: culture, religion and realizing women s right. New Africa Books. NJAFE VOL. 12 No. 4,