Male and Female Participation in the Implementation of Fadama III Additional Financing Project among Cassava Farmers in Anambra State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study examined the level of male and female participation in the implementation of Fadama III – Additional Financing project among cassava farmers in Anambra State, Nigeria. Multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 120 cassava farmers that participated in Fadama III – Additional Financing project. Primary data were collected using interview schedule, while paired sample t-test and multiple regression analysis were used to analyse the data. Findings reveals that the male respondents were mainly active in the project activities such as need assessment (x̄ =2.65), development of business plan (x̄ =2.65) and production group formation (x̄ =2.63), while strong linkage to financial institution (x̄ =2.82), conflict resolution (x̄ =2.72), monitoring and evaluation (x̄ =2.67) and strong linkage to off takers (x̄ =2.60) were more actively carried out by the female respondents. Both the male and female respondents benefited immensely from the project in terms of access to improved farm inputs access to facilitator, provision of training, increase in yield, increase in farm size, adequate information on good production practices and low cost of labour. Untimely provision of inputs, irregular advisory services, corrupt practices, lack of access to credit and poor road network were regarded as the major constraints to male and female participation in the project activities. There was significant difference (t = 2.50, p≤ 0.05) in the level of participation between male and female farmers in the project. However, the females participated more in the project’s activities, and the socioeconomic characteristics of the respondents did not influence their levels of participation. Male farmers should be sensitized and encouraged in order to participate actively in the project activities.

Keywords: Cassava farmers, participation by sex, fadama, additional financing