GEO-ANALYSIS OF FEMALE AS DRIVERS OF RICE CULTIVATION IN ETSAKO, EDO STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study focuses on the Geo-analysis of Females as drivers of rice cultivation in Etsako, Edo State, Nigeria. Rice being a staple food widely consumed by most Nigerians is both imported and locally produced. Semi-structured questionnaires were administered to 370 rice farmers in the region using purposive and systematic random sampling techniques while 328 (88.6%) was successfully retrieved. Descriptive statistics was employed in data analyses and presentation. It was discovered that, majority of the farmers were females, 171 (52.1%) with 157 (47.9%) men. The overall findings shows that a large proportion of about 64.6% representing 212 rice farmers were married while 18 (5.5%) and 25 (7.6%) of the study respondents were separated and widowed respectively. The study therefore recommends that, females involved in rice farming should be encouraged by the provision of incentives to serve as morale booster, rice cultivation should not be left in the hand of females alone; Concerted efforts should be made, not only to challenge men but to empower them to deploy their masculine potentials in rice farming with the view to boosting food sufficiency, the current institutional arrangements governing rural land holdings and tenure system need to be reviewed in line with the emerging realities so that females also inherit lands from their forebears and become owners of lands permanently, adequate security should be provided for the safety of the females involved in rice farming and the unmarried (younger people) should be encouraged to get involved in rice farming.