SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS INFLUENCING THE PROCESSING OF AFRICAN OIL BEAN SEED AMONG RURAL WOMEN IN IDEATO SOUTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF IMO STATE NIGERIA

Osahon E.E, Odoemelam L.E and Uyanwa, J.U

SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS INFLUENCING THE PROCESSING OF AFRICAN OIL BEAN SEED AMONG RURAL WOMEN IN IDEATO SOUTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF IMO STATE NIGERIA

Osahon E.E,

Lecturer

Department of Rural Sociology and Extension

Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike

Email: omalaka2006@yahoo.com;

 

Odoemelam L.E

Senior lecturer

Department of Rural Sociology and Extension

Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike

Email: lovinasteve@gmail.com

 

Uyanwa, J.U

B.Sc

Department of Rural Sociology and Extension

Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike

A R T I C L E  I N F O

Article Type: Research

Received: 12, June. 2019.

Accepted: 07, July. 2019.

Published: 07, July. 2019.

 

 

A B S T R A C T

This study investigated socio-economic factors influencing the processing of African oil bean seed among rural women in Ideato Local Government Area of Imo State Nigeria. The specific objectives of the study were to ascertain the level of participation of rural women in African oil bean seed processing in the study area. The multi-stage sampling procedure was used in the selection of the sample size. In the first stage, two communities were randomly selected from the local government area followed by a selection of 20 households who are into oil bean processing bringing the total to 140 respondents. Primary data was collected using a well-structured questionnaire and interview schedule and later analysed with frequencies, percentages, mean, ranking and logistic regression. The findings showed that the mean age of the respondents was 42 years, while about 43% and 29.3% of the respondents had a non-formal education and primary school education, respectively. A good proportion of the respondents (46.4%) were married, with a household size of 1-5 members and 6-10 members respectively. About 37.9% of the respondents had a monthly income below 40 thousand naira and (64.3%) belonged to a cooperative society/farm association respectively. Regression results indicated that level of education, household size and marital status were strong determinants in the processing of African oil bean seed by the rural women in the study area. It was recommended that the rural women should be empowered through loans to encourage them to be more proactive in the processing of African oil bean seed. Therefore, the paper recommends that processing techniques should be modernized for efficient production and improved shelf-life.

Keywords:

Processing, Oil bean-seed, Rural women