Assessment of Constraints to Cassava Value-Added Enterprises in Kwara State, Nigeria

The study examined constraints to cassava processing in Kwara State, Nigeria. A 2-stage sampling technique was used to randomly select 160 cassava processors in the 16 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of the state from the list of registered processors obtained from Kwara Agricultural Development Programme (ADP). Structured interview schedule was used as instrument to elicit primary data from the respondents. The socio-economic characteristics were subjected to descriptive statistics, while the constraints were rated on a 4-point Likerttype scale. Chi-square (X2) was used to test the relationship between selected socio-economic characteristics and constraints to cassava processing. The result of analysis revealed that 36.3 percent of the respondents were within the age range of 41 and 50 years, majority (87%) were women, and 55.6 percent had household sizes of between 6 and 8 members. Those without formal education constituted 40 percent, 44.4 percent had less than 10 years experience in cassava processing, while majority (68%) sourced funds for cassava processing from personal savings. The severe constraints of cassava processing were lack of funds, high cost of processing equipment, and scarcity of cassava tubers with respective mean scores ( X ) of 3.44, 3.35 and 3.23. The chi-square test of independence revealed that positive and significant relationship existed between socio-economic characteristics such as gender, educational status, marital status, membership of cooperative society, age of processor and experience in cassava processing at 5% level of significance. Subsidy on cassava processing equipment, reduction of interest rates and a buy-back policy of processed cassava products by governments were recommended