Adoption of cocoa input technologies under agricultural transformation agenda among women cocoa farmers in Ile-Ife, Osun State

What is it about?

Despite the important roles of women in cocoa business in Nigeria, they are saddled with most of the tasks in cocoa production 'supposedly' meant for the man while their returns to labour are not commensurate to the manhours spent on the task. Majority of them are hardly given any attention in the area of training and/or visitation by extension agents with improved technologies. Banks do not grant them loans because of lack of ownership over assets and they are hardly reached with improved seedlings, fertilizer and other inputs (FAO, 2011; SAHEL, 2014; OXFAM, 2013). These conditions have entrenched the women in a vicious cycle of poverty that places them at a less advantageous vantage of income and resource empowerment. Women farmers face daily struggle with gender inequality in cocoa market. Women are often hired for lower paying work while men do more wage rewarding works. Over the years, traditional institutions have been involved in policy formation involving only men in the exercise. They are seldom involved in key decision roles (UN, 2011; Adeniyi, 2010). According to Kofi (2003), when women are fully involved in decision making, families are healthier, better fed, with increased family incomes, improved savings while re-investment increases. In order to tackle the issues in Nigeria, certain strategies have been put in place by the Federal Government and Adesiyan et al. 53 research institutes. Nigerian Cocoa Research Institute (NCRI) had released eight new cocoa hybrids through Agricultural Transformation Agenda giving out 1.4 million cocoa pods to farmers in cocoa producing states in the country. Also, provision of inputs such as fertilizers, insecticides and fungicides at a subsidized rate was also included.

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Photo by Etty Fidele on Unsplash

Photo by Etty Fidele on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Cocoa is one of the capital-intensive businesses especially when it comes to the purchase of improved seedlings. This becomes more challenging to women who usually have no or limited fund for investment. Women make crucial contributions in agriculture and rural enterprises in all developing country regions, as farmers, workers and entrepreneurs. In sub-Saharan Africa women have relatively high overall labour-force participation rates and the highest average agricultural labour-force participation rates in the world (FAO, 2011). Women farmers are central to the sustainability of the cocoa supply chain and cocoa growing communities. Although they are often overlooked and unrecognized, women farmers and laborers make a significant contributions to the amount of cocoa produced, which is under increasing demand (Marston, 2016).

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