Comparative Analysis of the Level of Engagement in Palm Oil Processing Among Rural Households in Southeast Nigeria

Abstract

The study provided empirical evidence of rural household's engagement in processing of oil palm produce in South east Nigeria. The study specifically identified the methods of processing oil palm produce, ascertained the level of household's engagement in oil palm processing, identified the constraints to oil palm processing in the study area. Multi-stage random sampling procedure in selecting 540 respondents. Data for the study were collected with the use of structured questionnaire and analyzed with the use of both descriptive (frequency, percentage and mean) and inferential statistics (ANOVA model). The results showed that 58.1% of the respondents used semi-modern/mechanized in processing of oil palm produce. There was high level of engagement in the processing of oil palm produce (pooled grand mean = 3.67). The result revealed that lack of modern processing equipment (86.5%), instability of government policy (80.0%) and high cost of labour (76.7%) were the major constraints to engagement in oil palm processing. There was a statistically significant difference in the level of engagement of rural households in processing of oil palm produce across the states in South East Nigeria at 5% level of probability. The study concluded that most of the processors used a combination of both traditional and modern method in the processing of their oil palm produce and were highly engaged in the processing of oil palm produce as a profitable livelihood activity. The study therefore recommended that State and Federal Government should gear up efforts in providing basic infrastructure such as electricity and good, motorable roads in the study area so that the efficiency of processing of oil palm products can be guaranteed.