Gender, Social Capital and Agricultural Productivity among Cassava Farmers in Oyo State, Nigeria.

Abstract

Government efforts of to improve Nigeria's cassava productivity have been without appreciable impact. The unique social capital dimensions which specifically determine productivity for male and female farmers have not been clearly elucidated in the literature. Therefore, this study examined the effect of social capital on the gender dimensions of agricultural productivity among cassava farmers in Oyo state, Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling procedure was employed to select 180 cassava farmers using well-structured questionnaires. Data collected was analyzed using descriptive statistics, Total Factor Productivity and Ordinary Least Squares regression. The results show that 76% of the cassava farmers were male. Male farmers had a higher density of membership (56.2%) than female farmers. Cash contributions, decision making, labour contribution and heterogeneity showed similar patterns between the male and female farmers. The farmers were all productive with mean productivity of 0.189kg/? . Social capital influenced agricultural productivity of both male and female cassava farmers in different dimensions. Density of membership and cash contribution influenced the agricultural productivity of female farmers while meeting attendance and heterogeneity influenced the agricultural productivity of male farmers. Thus for increased cassava productivity, male farmers need to belong to more homogenous associations while female farmers need increased membership in more associations.