Socio-Economic Factors and Profitability of Groundnut Processing by Women in Kano State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study assessed the effect of socio-economic factors on profitability of groundnut processing into groundnut cake and oil by women in Kano State, Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling technique was employed. In the first stage, the three agricultural zones of the state were all selected for the study then two registered groups of women groundnut processors and finally all 25 members of each group to give a total sample size of 298 respondents. The tools of the analysis employed for data interpretation were descriptive statistics, and multiple regression analysis. The findings of the study revealed that age (β = 165.822, P<0.05), household size (β = 464.540, P<0.05), years of formal education (β = -2016.520, P<0.01), years of membership in cooperative (β = 610.86, P<0.10), nature of involvement in enterprise (β = 5002.815, P<0.01), ownership structure (β = -5064.77, P<0.05) and access to market (β = 3009.693, P<0.05) significantly influenced profitability of the women. The major problems militating against the women were inadequate capital and high cost of raw materials. It was concluded that groundnut processing was profitable and some social, institutional and enterprise characteristics influence level of the profit realized. The recommendations put for the study were that the women should be enlightened by extension personnel to form cooperatives that will assist in linking the women to for better access to credit, improved equipment, information and other extension benefits on groundnut processing so as to enhance the ease of production.