CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1: Background Information
In Nigeria of about 140
million people, men constitute about 50.4% and women 49.6%(N.P.C, 2006).Both
gender are responsible for producing the nation’s food and one of the major
problems confronting mankind in recent times is food crisis (Ndukwu et al
2010).Gender has often
been misunderstood as being about the promotion of women only, but it focuses
on the relationship between men and women, their roles, access to and control
over resources, division of labour and needs. Men and women are affected
differently in their operation in factors like markets and socio-economics
environments. Women are more constrained than their men counterparts in terms
of access to credits, agricultural inputs, information technology and so on.
Some crop production are even classified as men’s, like yam production, while
others like sweet potatoes and cocoyam production are regarded as women’s
especially in the southeastern Nigeria(Ndukwu et al 2010).Dimelu et
al (2009) reported that women are involved in crop production generally and
cocoyam production in particular.
Agriculture is the
largest sector in the Nigeria economy, providing food, income and employment
for sustainable livelihood of both the rural and urban population (CBN,2003).
FGN(2001), Agriculture is the largest non oil export earner and largest
employer of labour accounting for 88% of the non oil foreign exchange earnings
and 70% of the active labour force of the population. Food crops constitute the
largest component of the crops sub sector of Nigeria’s agriculture(CBN
2003).Roots tubers are major sources of dietary carbohydrates and provide food
for over 60 million people in Nigeria(Abubakar,2003).Increase in the output of
cassava, yam, potatoes as well as cocoyam will significantly increase the GDP
of Nigeria(Anyanwu et al 2010). The contribution of the food crop sector
of Nigerian Agriculture is significant and well documented in literature
(Olomola, 2006).
Nigeria is the largest
producer of cocoyam in the world, accounting for about 47% of the total world
output (FAO, 2007, NRCRI, 2009). From 0.73 million metric tones in 1990,
cocoyam production in Nigeria rose to 3.89million metric tones in 2000 (Ojiako et
al, 2007) and further by 30.30% to 5.068 million metric tones in 2007 (FAO,
2007). Further estimate in Nigeria, showed a figure of 5.387 million metric
tones out of 11.77 million metric tones of world output of cocoyam per annum
since 2008 (FAO , 2010).
Cocoyam ranks third in
importance after cassava and yam among the root and tuber crops cultivated in
Nigeria (see Appendix 1)(FAO, 2005, National Bureau of Statistics, 2006, Okoye et
al, 2008). Cocoyam is an important staple food in the plant family, cultivated
in South Eastern and South Western part of Nigeria (Onyenweaku et al,
2005, Ojiakor et al,
2007, Chukwu et al,
2009). It is a food security crop variously grown by resource poor farmers
especially women who often intercrop it with yam, maize, plantain, banana,
vegetable (Ikwelle et al, 2003).
Cocoyam to an extent is
medicinal for diabetic patients because it has low starch content, is easily
digestible and contains protein more than the other root tubers. The leaves of colocosia
esculenta have been shown to be a rich source of folic acid, ribo flavin,
vitamin A and C, calcium and phosphate (Arene and Ene, 1987). The leaves
are consumed because they are rich in protein and vitamins, while the root is
rich in carbohydrates and minerals (Duru and Uma, 2002). Cocoyam is a useful
cover crop and the corms are ready to harvest in 8 – 12 months (Uguru, 1996).
The corms and cormels are boiled, baked and tubers are sometimes ground to
produce paste for use in stews and soups. Also in Southeast Asia, cocoyam leaves
are consumed as a green or dry vegetables and the stem is either cooked or
eaten on its own or together with other dietary staples or pounded into flour
(Serem et al, 2008).The dried peeled corms are grinded to produce flour
which is considered to be as palatable as cassava flour but more nutritious
(Igbokwe, 2004).
In the traditional farming system women
"own" and plant cocoyam after the men have planted their yam, hence
it is regarded as a women's crop (Igbokwe, 2004). As a result of male migration
into urban and semi urban areas, certain task that were traditionally done by
men (e.g. ridging) are now being done by the women folk.
Thus, the gender based differentiation of farm tasks
appears to be disappearing. Some scholars believe and argue that majority of
the small scale farmers who produce the bulk of
Nigeria's agricultural output especially cocoyam are women. It is still their
contention that women also play key roles in storage, processing, utilization
and local marketing of agricultural produce (Dixon, 1983, Ekumankama and
Ekumankama, 1996). Females constitute the greater percentage of the Nigerian
population in the rural areas (Musa 1987, Fed. Rep. of Nig 1997, 2006).
Given the importance of cocoyam and the fact that
its cultivation is receeding, it becomes compelling to examine the production
methods, practices and resource inputs for its production in other to identify
opportunities for improvements in terms of cultivation and efficient use of
available resources.
Government research
effort under cocoyam expansion programme had led to the development of several
technologies aimed at adding value to cocoyam production (NRCRI, 1999). Also,
dissemination of the improved technologies as well as advocacy supports for
overall development of cocoyam are effective strategies for optimizing
utilization of the abundant potentials associated with cocoyam in Nigeria.
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