ABSTRACT

This research work is an attempt to examine gender differentials and market participation among cassava value chain actors in Southeast Nigeria. The specific objectives were to map  out the cassava value chain and the roles of actors by gender in the study area; examine the socioeconomic characteristics of male and female actors in the chain; ascertain the level of gender participation and segmentation in the formal and informal markets along the chain; determine by gender value added and share of value added in the formal and informal markets along the chain; estimate by gender the socioeconomic factors affecting value addition in the formal and informal markets along the chain, determine by gender the factors influencing the level of participation in the formal and informal  markets along the chain, and  describe  by gender the constraints to actor’s participation in the formal and informal markets along the chain. A multi-stage sampling technique was used in the selection of 432 respondents comprising male and female cassava producers, processors and marketers operating in the formal and informal markets. Data were analyzed using simple descriptive statistics and inferential statistical tools. Most of the male and female cassava actors along the chain were relatively young but not in their active age.  Majority of the actors in the formal and informal market along the chain were married couples with an average family size of 7 persons.  The male in the formal market along the chain had more years of experience and much farm size than their female counterparts. The female formal actors were more educated than their counterparts in the informal markets. On gender segmentation, the result shows that more male than female participated in the formal and informal market. On value addition the formal producers, processors and marketers added more value than their informal counterparts, also the males added more value than the females in both markets. The regression estimation of factors influencing the value addition by all the actors in the formal and informal markets show that the determinants of value addition by the producers in the formal market were age, household size, farming, experience and capital input. The processors in the formal market, the coefficients of education, processing experience, technology used and cost of cassava roots were the significant variables but in the informal market, the coefficients of educational level, labour costs, technology used and gender were the significant variables.  For marketers, the result reveals that the coefficients of marketing experience, household size and gender were significant in the formal market. In the informal market, the coefficients of cost of storage and quantity of gari purchased, quantity of gari sold and membership of cooperative society were equally significant variable. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended that the government and private organizations should encourage young people and women in cassava value chain through provision of access to input, land facilities, good road, improved technologies, and marketing facilities to reduce drudgery and improve income and food security in the study area.