Published in Scientific Papers. Series "Management, Economic Engineering in Agriculture and rural development", Vol. 22 ISSUE 4
Written by Sunday Brownson AKPAN, Emem Ekpo EFFIONG

Cassava production in the Southern region of Nigeria is seen as one of the prominent cultural practices of the natives. The potentials of cassava derivatives and their value chains are enormous in reducing poverty and triggering economic development in the region. Premised on these assertions, the study was designed to analyze the gross margins of cassava farmers and determine factors that affect it in the southern region of Nigeria. In the study, 120 cassava farmers were randomly sampled using structured questionnaire. The descriptive analyses of the data collected revealed that women dominated cassava production in the region. The farmers were moderately educated with an average farming experience of 11.9 years, and average social capital accumulation, age, farm income, gross margin, and farm size of 6.0 years, 44.3 years, N68, 694.17, N29, 793. 57 and 0.59 hectares respectively. The empirical findings revealed that farmers’ age, education, farming experience, social capital, cassava cutting, and farm size were significant positive determinants of cassava farmers’ gross margins while household size, transaction cost and access to farm credit relate negatively. Based on the findings, it is recommended that youth should be encouraged in cassava production as a way to augment the aging cassava population in the region. Also, adult education should be encouraged among cassava farmers in addition to promoting moderate household size among others.

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