CASSAVA ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND GENDER PARTICIPATION IN UDI LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF ENUGU STATE, NIGERIA

This Study on cassava entrepreneurship and gender participation was carried out in Udi local Government Area of Enugu State, Nigeria. Quarterly data from a panel of thirty male-headed and thirty female-headed cassava-based farm households randomly selected followings a multistage sampling of ten out of 24 autonomous communities of the study area was subjected to descriptive and inferential statistical analyses. Both male and female entrepreneurs engaged more on three of cassava products namely Garri, Fufu and Tapioca on account of relatively better profits from them. Segregating male from female entrepreneurs, participation of males in cassava enterprise was negatively influenced by adult number of males, time spent on housework, and daily non-farm wage while participation of females in the enterprise was influenced by adult number of females in household, daily non-farm wage, time spent on housework and frequency of contact with extension agency with challenges of high operational costs, and poor packaging on the enterprise in the area. To bring male and female entrepreneurs at par in terms of resource needs, all social and cultural constraints on female access to arable land and credit should be addressed by law such that that there will be prohibition against any discrimination on women. We recommended provision of financial credit and grants for SMEs development to enable entrepreneurs (especially women) purchase fertilizers and automated machines for processing, and packaging of the products to attract better prices.