CASSAVA VALUE ADDITION: A CASE STUDY OF CASSAVA-BASED BREAD PRODUCERS IN ONDO STATE, NIGERIA

The main objective of this study was to carry out an economic analysis of bread production (using cassava flour) in Akure South Local Government, Ondo State, Nigeria. It ascertained the socio-economic characteristic of the bread producers, estimated costs, returns and profitability in the use of cassava flour for making bread in the study area. Primary data were collected with the aid of a well-structured questionnaire administered to fifty respondents. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics, gross margin analysis and multiple regression analysis. Result showed that production of bread were dominated by male with (73.5%) flour processors and (26.5%) of female processors. Analysis of costs and returns revealed that bread production is profitable in the study area (mean profit of N1,546,657 per month). The estimated functions were in terms of the statistical significance of multiple determinants (R2) 0.998 as indicated by F-value, the significance of the co-efficient of and the magnitude of standard errors. An increase in age will lead to a further increase in the revenue of the producers. The coefficient of educational level is negative and this implies that a decrease in the educational level leads to an increase in the revenue of producers. The coefficient of years of experience was positive and it connotes a corresponding increase in revenue as years of experience rises, the coefficient of purchasing cost was positive and this connotes that the revenue of the producers increased with an increase in purchasing cost as they tend to hike their prices.