ASSESSMENT OF RURAL WOMEN INVOLVEMENT IN PALM OIL PROCESSING IN ONDO STATE, NIGERIA
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Date
2021-12
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Patnsuk Journal
Abstract
This study assessed the involvement of rural women in oil palm processing in Ondo state, Nigeria. A
three stage sampling method was employed to select 200 oil palm processors used for the study. Primary
data were collected using a structured questionnaire administered to respondents. Data collected were
analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The study showed that the average age of the rural
women was 50 years, 56% of the respondents were married and 52% of the women hired labour for
processing. It was shown that 37% of the women had between 1 and 10 years of processing experience
with an average household size of 5 members. The oil palm processors were constrained with inadequate
pressing or extraction machine, inadequate fruit meshing machine. The results revealed that age (pvalue=
0.001), marital status (p-value= 0.002), household size (p- value = 0.030) and processing
experience (p-value= 0.002) were positively significant to the involvement of rural women in oil palm
processing. It was concluded that rural women were more involved in oil palm processing. It could be
recommended that mechanization of major stages of operations should be prioritized to alleviate the
drudgery of rural women involved in oil palm processing
Description
Keywords
oil palm, products, contributions, women