Assessment of cashew production and its associated constraints in Nigeria: A case study of Kogi and Ekiti states

Abstract

The study analyzed cashew production in Kogi and Ekiti States. Primary data were collected using the multistage sampling technique with the aid of structured questionnaire. The descriptive statistical tool of analysis was used to analyse the 100 respondents collected. The result of the analysis shows that majority (74%) of the farmers were male and about 74% of them fell within the active age of 31-60 years of age. Majority (83%) were married and almost all of them (98%) had formal education. Furthermore, (86%) of the farmers had between 11 and 40 years of experience. The result of the analysis also revealed that an average of 3067 kg of Raw Cashew Nuts (RCN) was produced per farmer per year. Some of the constraints facing the farmers in the course of their production were lack of processing technique (70%), lack of finance (62%), lack of technical knowhow (42%) and lack of accessible roads to some of the farms (35%). Based on the findings, the study hereby recommended that farmers should be trained on how to process their produce to value added products and that government should provide the basic infrastructural facilities such as accessible roads to farms.