Gender involvement in rice production in Ekiti West local government area of Ekiti State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study examined gender involvement in rice production and processing in Ekiti West Local Government Area of Ekiti State. Four communities were purposively selected and a total of 320 respondents were randomly sampled. Focus Group Discussions and In-depth Interviews were used to elicit information from the respondents. The result revealed that 80% of the respondents were indigenes, 40% of adult male occasionally participated in farm clearing while a greater percentage of adult participated in bush burning. Females rarely participated in pre-planting activities. Both adult and young male (50%) occasionally participated in fertilizer application while adult and young female regularly participated in planting operations of rice. Planting and post harvest operations of rice were not considered to be male activities. Seventy percent of adult male were involved in milling against 30% of young male. Bird scaring was done by both young male and young female. Parboiling, winnowing and selling were performed mainly by adult female. Using problem tree analysis, respondents identified lack of extension services, high cost of labour, birds, contamination of rice with stones and late rain as major problems. The causes/constraints listed were high moisture content, inadequate processing technology, lack of labour and unpredictable weather. Hence, involvement of male is not the same with that of female in all the activities of rice production and processing. Provision of planter to prevent back-breaking during planting by women and chemicals at low rates to curb pest activities are very essential.