The study was conducted to identify and specify gender tasks and roles in vegetable production with ultimate goal of better targeting the resources in agricultural sector. One hundred and twenty vegetable farmers were surveyed in Ikorodu local government area of Lagos State. Multistage stage sampling technique was used to select one hundred and twenty (120) vegetable farmers as the sample for the study. Data was collected by means of structured questionnaire. Percentages, Means and Frequencies were the main descriptive statistical tools utilized while Pearsons’ correlation coefficients were estimated to ascertain the association between women participation and selected socioeconomic variables. The findings revealed that 87.50% of females and 91.07% male vegetable farmers fall between the ages of 20-50 years with a mean age of 50.85 years. 65.61% of females and 30.36% of males’ vegetable farmers had formal education while none of the vegetable farmers receive post-secondary education. The role of women in majority of the cases was supportive in nature while the dominative role in most of the cases was performed by men. Correlation analysis revealed that Age, marital status, farming experience and Farm size were positively related with women participation in vegetable production. Education had no relationship with women participation in vegetable production. It was suggested that projects and programmes that aim to increase vegetable production should be designed to address the complementary roles that men and women farmers play.
Contribution/ Originality
This study documents that although women dominated in some operations of vegetable cultivation but in totality male participation was more prominent. The roles of women in majority of the cases were supportive in nature while the dominative roles in most of the cases were performed by men. The study further revealed that age, marital status, farm experience and farm size were positively related to women participation in vegetable production in the study area while education was negatively related to women participation in vegetable production.
Keywords:
Reference:
D. A. Kotze, "Role of women in the household economy, food production and food security: Policy guidelines," Outlook on Agriculture, vol. 32, pp. 111-121, 2003.
B. Nnadozie and I. Ibe, Women in agriculture: Problems and prospects, In: Agricultural transformation in Nigeria, Ed., A. C. Nwosu; C. U. Nwajuba and J. A. Mbanasor. Owerri, Nigeria: Novelty Industrial Enterprises, 1996.
S. A. Rahman, "Women’s involvement in agriculture in Northern and Southern Kaduna state," Journal of Gender Studies, vol. 17, pp. 17-26, 2008.
F.A.O., "A synthesis report of the African region: Women, agriculture and rural development," Report Prepared Under the Auspices of FAO’s Programme of Assistance in Support of Rural Women in Preparation for the Fourth World Conference of Women; Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, Italy, 1995.
M. M. Afolabi, "Women as pillars of national economy in Nigeria: A study of economic activities of rural women in six local government areas of Ondo State," presented at the IAFFE Summer Conference, International Association for Feminist Economics, Torino, Italy, 2008.
T. Hassan, N. Akmal, and S. Taj, Perception of gender dimensions in Rainfed Pothwar. K. M. Aujla, W. Malik and M. Ashraf (Ed). Socio economic research studies. 2003-04. Islamabad: Pakistan Agricultural Research Council, 2002.
A. Mofeke, A. Ahmada, and O. Mudiane, "Relationship between yield and seasonal water use for tomatoes, onions, and potatoes grown under fadama irrigation," Asset Series A., vol. 3, pp. 35-46, 2003.
P. Sultana, "Gender roles in agricultural production," presented at the Crop Diversi-Fication Programme Workshop on Social and Gender Analysis and Gender Awareness Building, Held During 1-2 December, Dhaka, Ban-gladesh. Workshop Hand Book Part 1, 1993.
W. Akanda, "Participation of rural women in different farm and non-farm activities in two selected villages of Mymensingh district," M S. Thesis, Dept. Agril. Extn. Edu, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, 1994.
A. Halim, B. S. Nahar, and A. B. M. M. Alam, "Research on women in agriculture: The experiences of BAU farming system and envi-ronmental studies," presented at the Paper Presented in the Workshop on Women in Agriculture: The Challenges. BARC, 23-24, March, Dhaka Bangla-desh, 1994.
W. A. Shah, "Participation of rural women in the homestead vegetable farming system of Bangladesh," Jourrnal for Farming System Research Extension, vol. 4, pp. 89-92, 1994.
L. K. R. Devi, "Determines of lab our force participation among women in Karalla. Some evidence from a micro level study," Asian Economic Review, vol. 38, pp. 102-115, 1995.
M. H. Rahman, "Participation of women in rural development: An experience of comprehensive village development programmer," Bangladesh Rural Development Studies, vol. 6, pp. 47-57, 1996.
S. Parvin, "Attitude of rural women towards homestead agricultural production," M. Sc.(Ag. Ext. Ed) Thesis, Department of Agricultural Extension Education, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, 1993.
D. R. Rao, "A qualitative exploration of some socio-economic issue in South Uddarndi," Matlab, RDP Annual Report: Dhaka, Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee, 1994.
K. Nahar, "Participation of rural women in homestead agriculture in a selected area of Gazipur district," M. S. (Ag. Ext. Ed) Thesis, De-partment of Agricultural Extension Education, Bangladesh Agricul-tural University, Mymensingh, 1996.
M. Salauddin, "Involvement of rural women in homestead vegeta-ble cultivation in a sleeted area of Ghoraghat Upazila under Dinajpur district," M. S. (Ag. Ext. Ed) Thesis. Department of Agricultural Extension Education, BAU, Mymensingh, 2003.
M. M. Karim, Assessment of farmers agricultural knowledge in sugarcane cultivation. Gazipur: Dept. Extn. Edu., IPSA, Salna, 1993.
S. Ahsan, The marmas of Bangladesh. Dhaka: HRDC, Winrock International, BARC, Farm Gate, 2002.
O. Busari Ahmed, K. M. Idris-Adeniyi, and J. O. Oyekale, "Economic analysis of vegetable production by rural women in Iwo zone of Osun state, Nigeria," Greener Journal of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 3, pp. 006-011, 2012.
Click to View
Click to View
Click to View