Farmers Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Cocoa Certification in Southwest Nigeria

Abstract

The study explored the levels of knowledge, attitude and practice of cocoa farmers in Southwest Nigeria towards certification process. It specifically examined the sources of information, factors militating the adoption of certification processes and identified the training needs. A set of pre-tested questionnaire was used to solicit information while multistage sampling procedure was used to select 60 respondents each from two locations Ilare in Osun and Ile-Oluji in Ondo States. Results revealed a mean age of 43.33 years, farming experience 22.70years, farm size 8.73ha and age of farm 22.15years while yield was recorded as 14.14 tons. It was also established that 86% could read and write, 52.50% of the respondents were aware of certification process while only 35% had extension contact. Correlation analysis showed a positive and significant relationship at (r= 0.315 p<0.007) between farmers’ knowledge and practice of cocoa certification process. However, the KAP analysis showed positive attitude (65%), knowledge (10.50%) and practice (6.45%). It was concluded that the farmers had positive attitude to what can increase their produce but low knowledge which is consequential to their low practice of cocoa certification procedure which by implication can affect their yield and bean quality negatively. It is recommended that for sustainable production of cocoa, training and re-training of farmers is needed for quality and exportable cocoa bean.