Akokhia Hud Umar, Sheriff Oluwatosin Obasanya

Keywords: Cooperative membership, Smallholder farmers, Cassava value addition, Edo State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigated the impact of agricultural cooperatives on cassava
value addition among smallholder farmers in Edo State, Nigeria. A
descriptive cross-sectional survey design was employed to collect data
from a stratified random sample of 400 farmers—200 cooperative members and 200 non-members—using a structured questionnaire. Data
were comparatively analysed using descriptive statistics. Analyses of
demographics of the respondents revealed that 55% of them were aged 45 or younger, with a slight majority (53.3%) being female. Findings on
comparative cassava production volume revealed that 43.9% of
cooperative members produced between 6 and 10 tons of cassava annually compared to only 26.7% of non-members. In processing activities, 57% of cooperative members engaged in garri production, 51.7% in fufu, and
42.2% in starch manufacturing, significantly exceeding the 26.7%, 20.2%, and 11.7% reported by non-members in the food categories, respectively. Despite the advantages associated with cooperative membership, farmers faced persistent challenges such as inadequate rural infrastructure, high input costs, and limited access to modern processing equipment. These findings underscored the critical role of cooperative membership in enhancing production scale and value-added activities. It is recommended that targeted policy interventions are needed to address infrastructural and
operational constraints in the cassava value chain.

Author Biography

Akokhia Hud Umar

Department of Cooperative Economics and Management Auchi Polytechnic, Auchi, Edo State, Nigeria

Email: [email protected]

Sheriff Oluwatosin Obasanya

Department of Cooperative and Rural Development Osun State University, Osogbo, Nigeria

Email: [email protected]

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