Assesment of the Behaviour and Investment Preference of Women Cassava Processors in Ekiti State, Nigeria

Abstract

The behavior and pattern of investment of cassava processors depends largely on their level of income; the need to assess their investment preference necessitated this study. The research was carried out in Ekiti State Nigeria to describe the socioeconomic characteristics of women cassava processors; examine their investment patterns; determine their propensities to invest and; analyze the factors influencing their investment decision. Information was obtained from a total of 180 women cassava processors through a well-structured questionnaire. A multi-stage sampling technique was used in the selection of respondents. The analytical tools employed were descriptive statistics, Friedman ranking analysis, and Probit regression analysis. The study showed that the mean annual income and investment of respondents were ₦488,750 and ₦164,300 respectively with marginal propensity to invest for every income generated at ₦0.228. The Probit regression analysis showed that the major factors influencing the respondents’ decision to invest in the study area were household size, annual income and return on investment. The studies showed that investment potential not only exists among the women cassava processor in the study area, they were actually investing, but their unwillingness to invest in processing equipment is worrisome. It’s therefore recommended that modern processing facilities should be subsidized to reduce the processing cost, encourage future investment on them, reduce drudgery, increase value addition, income and consequently increased investment. Secondly, soft loans free of collateral should be giving to the processors to facilitate purchase of processing equipment, develop and expand their processing sheds.