ASSESEMENT OF GENDER ROLES IN RICE PRODUCTION AND PROCESSING IN OGUN STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

A clear division of labour according to sex and age exist in Nigeria farming communities in terms of tasks performed and their participation in different farming activities hence, this study assessed gender roles in rice production and processing in Ogun state, Nigeria. The specific objectives were to: ascertain socio-economic characteristics of the respondents, identify the varieties of rice grown, determine the roles performed by different household members in the family in rice production and processing, determine the attitude of farmers towards rice production and processing, determine rice output from year 2012 to 2016, determine profitability of rice production and processing and ascertain the challenges experienced by the farmers in rice production and processing. A multistage sampling technique was used to select 120 rice farmers in Ogun state based on the state rice output from Agricultural Development Programme (ADP). Primary data were obtained from the respondents with the use of structured interview schedule. The results were analyzed with descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings revealed that, the mean age of the respondents was 43.5 years for men and 42.4years for women with an average household size of 9 persons for men and 6 persons for women. The result from the study also showed that the greater proportion (73.4% men and 54.6% women) primary occupation were farming and had formal education with the average farming experience of 12 years for men and 10.8 years for women. The study showed that majority (76.7% women and 70.0% men) planted upland rice and grown improved varieties of rice. Moreover, the result showed that majority (81.7% and 75.0%) of the men and the women respectively had contacts with extension agents in year 2016. Clearing of farmlands, de-stumping/ packing, tilling of land and application of fertilizer were mainly carried out by men while women mainly carried out activities in: planting, weeding, thinning, bird scaring, harvesting and packaging. In rice processing; threshing, sun drying, bagging, soaking, winnowing, parboiling, sun drying after parboiling, bagging and storing were the major activities carried out by the women. With the men performing major roles in milling, de-stoning and transporting. The respondents’ rice output was higher in year 2016 of rice produced by the men and the women.High cost of labour, access to credit facility, inadequate irrigation facilities,lack of technical knowledge and high cost of hiring equipments were some of the major challenges experienced in rice production. While some major challenges experienced in rice processing were lack of technical know-how to handle machines , inadequate capital for purchase of processing machines, inadequate feeder roads for transporting rice outputs , high cost of labour, and inadequate storage facilities. Most (62.5%) of the farmers had favourable attitude towards rice production and processing. More so, the result of t- test showed that, there was significant difference in the quantity of rice produced by men and women in year 2016. Finally, the results of the linear regression showed that, age of the farmers, years of experience in farming, farm size in year 2016 and access to credit significantly influence the quantity of rice produced by the farmers. The study concluded that, men farmers were more involved in rice production activities than the women who dominated rice processing activities in the study area. It was recommended that, Government should improve farmers’ extension ratio since the number of visitation by extension agent was low as a result of low extension workers.