Promoting value addition among farmers in the cassava food value chain in Nigeria

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse the effects of the determinants of farmer participation in value addition through cassava processing in Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach This study employs the probit model to analyse the determinants of farmer participation in value addition whereas the Tobit model is used to investigate the determinants of the extent of producer’s involvement in value addition using a data set of 400 cassava farmers drawn from the Oyo State of Nigeria. Findings The findings further indicate that among other factors, human capital factors including farmer age and location variable tend to reduce farmer participation in value addition through processing whereas experience and record keeping promote farmer participation in cassava processing. Institutional variables, notably membership of farmer association, extension access and credit access, enhance farmer participation in value addition. Finally, ownership of a radio set, a television set and access to electricity strengthen the value-adding capacity of farmers. Research limitations/implications This study only considers the determinants of producers’ participation in cassava processing but does not explicitly analyse the impact of value addition on their profit margin. This issue would form a basis for future research to enhance knowledge in the extant literature. Practical implications The study suggests that if the value-adding capacity of farmers is strengthened, rural economy is likely to be improved upon through the proliferation of rural food processing enterprises. Originality/value Despite the relevance of developing food value chains in Africa and integrating farmers in them, there are limited studies on promoting value addition among farmers. This study contributes to narrowing this knowledge gap.

Farm-Level Value Addition among Small-scale Mango Farmers in Machakos County, Kenya

“…This result concurs with the finding by Alkan and Kumar, (2018) that storage was one of the best strategies for mango value addition and post-harvest management practice among small-scale farmers. This finding contradicts results by Donkor et al (2018) that lack of storage facilities reduces the active participation of farmers to value addition along the local value chain.…”

“…Value addition is achieved through innovation and coordination processes (Donkor, Onakuse, Bogue, and de los Rios Carmenado, 2018) . However, Farmers' interest to add value to their product through innovation and coordination is largely limited by the market environment, supportive services, processing technologies, infrastructure, institutional, economic, and socio-demographic factors (Gashaw, Habteyesus, and Nedjo, 2018).…”

Income inequality and distribution patterns in the cassava value chain in the Oyo State, Nigeria: a gender perspective

“…Most studies on the CVC focus on the production node, with only a few studies considering activities at the processing and market nodes of the chain. At the production node, studies address issues related to adoption of improved cassava varieties (Opata et al, 2021;Afolami et al, 2015;Wossen et al, 2018), choices of marketing channels (Donkor et al, 2018a), value addition (Donkor et al, 2018b) and profitability of cassava production (Obayelu et al, 2013;Omotayo and Oladejo, 2017;Ojiako et al, 2018;Donkor et al, 2019;Rahman and Chima, 2016). Afolami et al (2015) found that the adoption of improved cassava varieties increased the annual income and consumption expenditure of farming households in southwestern Nigeria.…”

Marketing of baobab pulp in Kenya: Collectors’ choice of rural versus urban markets

“…The factors determining a baobab collector's choice of marketing channel are grouped into human capital, transactional and institutional factors. This categorisation is based on Donkor et al's (2018a) study on promoting value addition among cassava farmers in Nigeria. Variables categorised under human capital include the collector's gender, age, number of children, marital status, other incomes, number of baobab trees, baobab collection point, experience of selling baobab and number of known buyers.…”