Gender Differentials of Cassava Processing Activities among Cassava Processors in Ogun State, Nigeria

Abstract

Cassava is one of the major staple food crops in Nigeria, producing daily carbohydrate requirements  for millions of people in the country. However, there is dearth of information on gender division of labour  in cassava processing activities in the study area. This study assessed gender roles in cassava processing activities in Ogun state. Two local government areas Odeda and Ewekoro) were purposively selected because of the concentration of cassava processing activities in the area. From the sampled
local government areas, 80 and 70 respondents were purposively selected respectively resulting in 150 respondents. Structured interview schedule was used to collect data and both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data. Most (82.8%) adult female and (84.2%) of adult male were between 31-50 years of age respectively. Most (81.6%) adult males were married and 78.2% adult females were married. Most young male (88.9%) and young female (87.5%) had secondary education.
Most adult female(92.0%) obtained information on cassava processing through friends. Majority of adult male (87.0%) and young male (78.0%) were always involved in uprooting of cassava tubers while most adult females (89.0%) and young females (88.0%) were always involved in peeling. The study concludes that cassava processing activities involved respondents from various gender categories with different roles.