Constraints to Participation of Cocoa Farmers in Agricultural Transformation Agenda in Ondo and Ekiti States, Nigeria

1. Abstract

The paper examined the constraints to participation of cocoa farmers in the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) in Ondo and Ekiti States, Nigeria. The paper described the socio-economic and institutional characteristics of cocoa farmers in the study area; determined the level of participation of cocoa farmers in the ATA programme, and identified factors that constrained effective participation of cocoa farmers in the ATA programme. Using multi-stage sampling procedure, 574 cocoa farmers were selected as sample for the study. Primary data collected were analysed using descriptive statistic and likert-type scale. Results of the study revealed that the mean years of experience in cocoa cultivation among the participating and non participating cocoa farmers was 21.53 years and 20.12 years, respectively. About 81% of the participating cocoa farmers were married while 7.0% were single. The result of the study also revealed that the level of participation of cocoa farmers in ATA programme was high with about 90% of the farmers participating in 8 to 12 ATA activities. Factors such as access to farmland and low market price of cocoa were ranked as severe constraint factors while the other constraint factors such as cost of labour, shortage of fund, low quality production input, labour shortage at the peak of production season, input quality and prices as well as restricted access to credit were ranked as mild constraint factors. To mitigate the effects of the identified constraints factors, cocoa farmers in the study area diversified their enterprises to earn extra income. Based on the result of this study, government at all levels should allocate farmland from government acquired land in the States to interested cocoa farmers on sharecropping, outright sales or rental basis. Cocoa farmers should also make effective use of their cooperative associations by mobilising financial resources to take advantage of mechanical labour for some of the cocoa production activities.

 Key words: Participation, Constraint factors, Transformation Agenda