Socio-economic factors and profitability of groundnut processing by women in Kano State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study assessed the effect of socio-economic factors on profitability of  groundnut processing into groundnut cake and oil by women in Kano State, Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling procedure was employed to select 298 respondents. Data collected for the study include information on socio-economic characteristics, and profit from enterprise. The tools of the analysis employed for data interpretation were descriptive statistics, and multiple regression analysis. Findings revealed that age (β = 165.822, P<0.05), household size (β = 464.540, P<0.05), years of formal education (β = -2016.520, P<0.01), years of membership in cooperative (β = 610.86, P<0.10), nature of involvement in enterprise (β = 5002.815, P<0.01), ownership structure (β = -5064.77, P<0.05) and access to market (β = 3009.693, P<0.05) significantly influenced profitability of groundnut processing to cake and oil. The major problems militating against the women were inadequate capital and high cost of raw materials. It was concluded that groundnut processing was profitable and some social, institutional and enterprise characteristics influence level of the profit realized. The recommendations put for the study were that the women should be enlightened by extension personnel to form cooperatives that will assist in linking the women to for better access to credit, improved  equipment, information and other extension benefits on groundnut  processing so as to enhance the ease of production.

Keywords: Women processors, Groundnut processing, Groundnut cake, Groundnut oil