The economic analysis of rice and cassava stable food-crops processing in Ekiti State, Nigeria

Bosede Racheal Adebisi, Tolulope Ariyomo, Temidayo Gabriel Apata

Abstract: Cassava (roots and tubers) and rice (cereals) are common food-crops cultivated by small scaled farmers in developing countries like Nigeria. Farmers that engages in the processing of these food-crops have recorded an appreciable income increase and has economic advantages over farmers who did not process. Hence, this study examines economic analysis of these food-crops in Ekiti State, Nigeria, using two dominant local-government areas (Irepodun/Ifelodun and Ikole) and multi-stage random sampling to select 140 respondents that were useful for data analysis. Descriptive analysis indicated the mean age of respondents as 55 years. Experience and years of education in food processing are significant factors, the higher the experience, the higher the farm profit. Cross-tabulation analysis revealed that 31% of farmers who took decision to process farm outputs had tertiary education. Moreover, proportion of farmers that engages in processing are 95.7%. Also, 34.3% of those who processed farm inputs made N100.000 (273.22 Euros) and above annually as against 11% of farmers who did not. T-test statistics revealed a significant difference between farmers who processed and those who did not. Hence, processed farm-outputs are significant factors to income increase and welfare improvement among food-crops processors in Ekiti State. Hence, government should formulate and implement economically viable value addition reforms policy to motivate farmers’ to process their farm outputs.

Keywords: cassava; economic analysis; processing; profit and loss; rice

Date published: 2018-11-06