Continental J. Agricultural Science 4: 54 - 59, 2010 ISSN: 2141 - 4203
© Wilolud Journals, 2010 http://www.wiloludjournal.com
GENDER ANALYSIS OF PRODUCTION, POTENTIALS AND CONSTRAINTS OF Thaumatococcus
danielli IN EKITI STATE
Adebisi- Adelani O., Adeoye I.B.,01ajide-Taiwo F.B., Usman J.M., Agbarevoh P., and Oyedele 0.0
National Horticultural Research Institute, P.M.B 5432, Idi-Ishin .Ibadan.
e-mail of corresponding author: adelanidotol@yahoo.com
ABSTRACT
Thaumatococcus danielli popularly known as "Ewe eran" among the Yoruba ethnic group in Nigeria is
an important crop due to its numerous economic and medicinal values. The study examined gender
participation in the production, potentials, and constraints of Thaumatococcus danielli in Ogotun Ekiti,
Ekiti State. Data was collected with the aid of a well structured questionnaire from 50 randomly
selected respondents using snowballing technique. Tools of analysis include descriptive statistics and T-
test. The result of the T-test showed that land preparation, planting and weeding were male dominated
(P<0.05). However, harvesting, production of mats, bags and slippers, selling of mats and bags and
leaves were female dominated (P<0.05). Result also revealed that almost all the respondents were aware
of the usefulness of Thaumatococcus danielli in mat weaving, fancy bags and slippers. The major
constraints faced in production were in the following order: seasonal variation >price
instability>marketing. Research into improvement of craft production of Thaumatococcus danielli
should be encouraged; development of more industrial raw materials from its fiber should also be
encouraged. Producers should be brought to the awareness of the economic and ornamental potentials
of Thaumatococcus. danielli sweetness as sources of added value and income.
Key Words- Thaumatococcus danielli, Gender analysis, Potentials.
INTRODUCTION.
Before and after the discovery of crude oil, agriculture remains the mainstay of Nigerian economy. Agriculture
is a major activity in the rural areas. Even the people who engage in other non-agricultural occupation such as
trades and craft, weaving, carving, tailoring and merchandising, still supplement their livelihood from farming.
(Olubanjo, 2001). However, most income generating and livelihood activities are along gender lines in the rural
areas in Nigeria.
Jigging, Samanta and Olawoye (1997) defined the term gender as it describes the socially determined,
maintained and enforced roles of men, women including males and females assigned on the basis of sex. (In
comparison sex denotes the physical and biological differences between males and females). Gender has proven
to be an essential variable for analyzing the roles, responsibilities, constraints, opportunities incentives costs and
benefits in agriculture.
As a social construct the term gender merely refers to the learned behavioral differences between men, women
and youths. Gender analysis in agriculture refers to the determination of who does what, why, with what
resources towards improving their overall production and the standard of living. It is the most effective tool to
open up the farm household and understand it behavior (Poats 1985).
Rural women as well as men, through out the world are engaged in a range of production activities essential to
household, and to the economic development of the society. The social and economic structure of Nigeria is
changing with relevance of globalization. There is growing awareness of agricultural innovation and
Technologies which have reconcile with the roles and responsibilities of women and men and introduce measure
such as maternity leave, child and family care services and benefits. However the barriers to economic
empowerment by women still persist (Adufe, 2005). In most part of the rural areas in Nigeria, division of labour
within the household is gender-specific and according to Age and Sex. Men and women play prominent roles in
agricultural production, and their contribution to the household food basket vary from one ethnic group to
another also from one commodity food crop to the other.
Thaumatococcus danielli (Benn) Benth (miraculous berry) is a non timber forest species that has been
contributing to the rural economy for a long time but whose potentials have not been fully exploited for
community development. It is a multi-purpose perennial herb that offers a wide assortant of uses with its leaves,
fruits, stalks and roots (Arowosoge, 2006). It is a naturally occurring plant growing in the wild. However, some
54
Adebisi- Adelani O et al.,: Continental J. Agricultural Science 4: 54 - 59, 2010
farmers are beginning to grow it commercially. It is processed into mats, bags, slippers and sponge. It is also
used as ornamentals, fish traps, and roof thatching. Some research work has been done on the economic
potentials of this miraculous berry and the analysis of the plant as a pulp. But little or no research work has been
done on gender role in the planting, processing and utilization of the plant. This study is therefore being carried
out to determine the role of each rural household member in the production, processing, and utilization of
Thaumatococcus danielli constraints being faced in the production and the awareness of its uses was
emphasized. The specific objectives of the study are to:
(1) identify gender involvement in production, processing and utilization of the
Thaumatococcus danielli
(2) assess constraints being faced by respondents in the production of Thaumatococcus
danielli .
(3) determine the level of awareness of respondents on the utilization of the plant.
(4) identify the social-economic and personal characteristics of the respondents.
Hypothesis: There are no significant differences in the role played by male, female and children in the
production of Thaumatococcus danielli.
METHODOLOGY.
The area of study was Ogotun Ekiti town in Ekiti State. The town was purposively selected being the major
producer of Thaumatococcus danielli. Ekiti State is situated entirely within the tropics. It is located between
longitudes 4, 5, and 45° East of the Greenwich meridian and latitude 7, 15 and 8, 5° north of the Equator. It lies
south of Kwara and Kogi State, East of Osun State and bounded by Ondo State in the East and in the south.
Ekiti state has 16 local Government Councils. By 2006 census, the population of Ekiti State was 2,384,212, with
the capital located at Ado-Ekiti.
The state enjoys a tropical climate with two distinct seasons. These are the rainy season (April-October) and the
dry season (November-March). Temperature ranges between 21 and 28° C with high humidity. Ogotun Ekiti
which is known as the mat weaving center was purposively selected. Respondents have been proportionately
selected using snowballing technique.
Both qualitative and quantitative instruments were used for data collection (i.e. the use of interview and
questionnaire) from 50 respondents consisting of producers, processors and marketers of Thaumatococcus
danielli. Data collected included those on personal characteristics, awareness of the usage, gender involvement
in production, processing, utilization and constraints. The data was analyzed using descriptive (frequencies,
percentages, ranking) and t-test.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION.
Personal Characteristics of Respondents.
Table 1 shows that majority(60%) of the respondents in the area of study were between ages 25-34 while 26%
were less than 25 years of age. This result indicates that most of the respondent were in their active age and
were therefore expected to be strong and agile. Moreover, they are likely to be opened to new ideas, Nabinta
(1994) and Adebayo (2008) reported that farmers within the ages of 30-49 years adopt new ideas/technologies
more easily and readily than older farmers. The results also shows that females (88%) dominated
Thaumatococcus danielli production in the study area while male were just 12%. this may be due to the fact that
Thaumatococcus danielli plant is mainly meant for women who takes care of children and they use the income
for the payment of their children's school fees and other domestic expenses. Further analysis from Table 1 also
indicated that majority (68%) of the respondents were married and are expected to be responsible. The
educational qualification of the respondents indicated that majority (62%) of the respondents had no formal
education, and 20% has primary school education. This may hinder adoption of innovation in a way.
Socio-economic characteristics of respondents.
Table 2 shows the socio-economic characteristics of the respondents. The result indicated that 40% of the
respondents interviewed do engages in several activities when it comes to Thaumatococcus danielli production
i.e. they grow it on their farm and sell its products. This shows how important Thaumatococcus danielli is to the
economy of the respondents. Reasons for being in the business as indicated by 74%were ready source of
income and family commitment. The table also reveals that 46% of the respondents have been involved in
Thaumatococcus danielli business for over 20 years. This indicates that it is more or less a hereditary business.
55
Adebisi- Adelani O et al.,: Continental J. Agricultural Science 4: 54 - 59, 2010
With this long years experience they must have been able adjust to changing condition and adopt the most
efficient cultural practices in production, processing and utilization. Farm size plays an important role in farm
success because it reflects the availability of capital, access to credit and even management ability. Table 2 also
shows that 42% of the respondents have less than one acre of land for Thaumatococcus danielli. The major
achievement of Thaumatococcus danielli respondents is found (52%) in the area of training of their children.
Children education is the priority of people in Ekiti state of Nigeria.
Awareness of the use of Thamatococcus danielli
Table 3 shows the awareness of respondents about the various uses of Thamatococcus danielli. AW the
respondents are fully aware that Thamatococcus danielli is used for mat weaving, fancy bags, slippers and used
in packaging of cooked food like pap, moin moin, pounded yam e.t.c. this is corroborated by the work of
Adeyeye in his study of economic analysis of in Ekiti state who stated that majority of the respondent are aware
that Thamatococcus danielli is used in the packaging of cooked food and mat weaving.. Also 98% respondents
claimed that it is used in combination with other materials. Thamatococcus danielli could be used in roof
thatching, though this is no more common due to modernization which has led to the usage of roofing sheets as
materials for roofing. Majority of the respondents (82%) are aware that Thamatococcus danielli could be used as
sweetener and flavour which they even affirmed on the course of In-depth interview that the fruit of
Thamatococcus danielli is sweeter than sugar. They use it in drinking garri, pap and tea. This is contrary to the
view of Arowosoge (2006)that awareness about Thamatococcus danielli as sweetener is low. The least
awareness of the use of Thamatococcus danielli is in its use as ornamental crops. The table shows that 14% of
respondents are aware that Thamatococcus danielli is used as ornamental plant. This is an indication that it
could be planted around the house to beautify the environment.
Gender involvement.
Table 4 shows that 86%, 90%, 92%and 98% of the male are involved in land acquisition, land preparation,
planning and chemical application while 80%, 66%, 70%, 84% of females are involved in processing into
slippers and bags, production of mats, selling of leaves and bags. This finding indicates that both males and
females are involved in various activities of Thaumatococcus danielli production, processing and marketing.
This makes it to agree with the findings of Agwu (2005) in his study of attitude of farmers towards the fadama
programme in Okigwe. Agricultural zone who stated that majority of adult males were more involved in
application of herbicides 79.5% and land acquisition (59.6%) while processing of the produce and marketing of
produce are in the hands of females and children. The t-test (Table 5) shows that there is significant difference
in all the activities of males compare to their female counterpart in Thaumatococcus danielli production.
Constraints to involvement.
Constraints to involvement in producing, processing, utilization of Thaumatococcus danielli are shown in Table
6. Seasonal variation ranked first among the constraints. This is closely followed by both marketing and price
instability. This is in tune with the result of Usman (2007) in the study of marketing of Thaumatococcus danielli
in Oyo-state who reported that the major problem confronting the women was is in seasonal variability of the
Thaumatococcus danielli leaves.
CONCLUSION.
The study revealed that majority of the respondents was between the ages of 25 and 43 years and were females
(88%). Majority (62%) had no formal education and 74% of respondents indicated that Thaumatococcus danielli
was a ready source of income.
All the respondents were aware of the potential of Thamatococcus danielli in mat weaving, bags, slippers and
packaging of foods. Seasonal variation of the Thaumatococcus danielli raw products ranked first among the
constraints encountered. Females were more involved in the producing, processing and marketing of
Thaumatoccocus danielli
REFERENCES
Adebayo E.F, A.N Mohammed and S.I Mshelia (2008): Economic Analysis of millet production in Gamawa
Local Government Area of Bauchi State, Nigeria. Nigeria Journal of Rural Sociology Vol 8 No. 1 2008.
Adufe, W.A (2005): Sociology of Education. Lucky Odoni Press. Ijebu-Ode. Pp. 1-84.
56
Adebisi- Adelani O et al.,: Continental J. Agricultural Science 4: 54 - 59, 2010
Agwu A.E (2005): Attitude of farmers towards the Fadama Programme in Okigwe Agricultural Zone, Imo State.
Nigeria Journal of Horticultural Science, Vol 10, 2005.
Arowosoge O.G.E and Labode Popoola (2006):Economic Analysis of Thaumatococcus danielli Benn Benth
(miraculous berry) in Ekiti State, Nigeria.www.isfae.org/scietificjoournal/2006/issue/content.pdf.
Jiggins J: R.K Samanta, and J.E Olawoye (1977): Improving women farmers Access to Extension Services" In
Burton E Sawnson, R.P Berta and A.J Sofranko (Eds) FAO reference manual, Improving Agricultural
Extension.
Nabinta, B.T (1994): Analysis of Indigenous storage practices for selected cereals by farmers in Bauchi L.G.A
Bauchi State, Unpublished M.Sc thesis University of Ibadan.
National Population Commission (1991) Population Census.
Olubanjo, 0.0 (2001): Women involvement in Agriculture, A case study of Ondo State, Nigeria. An
unpublished undergraduate research project, Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, Federal
University of Technology, Akure. 00 20-25.
Poats, S.V (1985): Gender analysis in Farming Systems, Research and Extension Projects Proceeding of family
system Research/Extension symposium. University of Arkansas and Winrock Institute of Agricultural
Development U.S. A pp 263-272.
Usman J.M, O. Adebisi and Adelani, O (2007) : Marketing Analysis of Thaumatococcus danielli in Ibadan
Metropolis. In Proceeding of Horticultural Society of Nigeria 2007.
Table 1: Personal characteristics of the Respondents
Characteristics
Frequency
Percentage
Age (in Years)
Less than 25
13
25-34
30
35-44
4
45-54
2
55-64
1
Total
50
Gender:
Male,
6
Female,
44
total
50
Marital status
Single
14
Married
34
Widowed
2
total
50
Religion
Christianity Islam
43
traditional
6
total
1
50
Educational
attainment
No formal
education.
Primary school
education.
31
Secondary school.
10
OND/NCE.
7
Total
2
50
26
60
8
4
2
100
12
88
100
28
68
4
00
86
12
6
100
62
20
14
4
100
57
Adebisi- Adelani O et al.,\ Continental J. Agricultural Science 4: 54 - 59, 2010
Table 2: Socio- economic characteristics of respondents.
Characteristics
Frequency*
Percentage H
Do you grow
8
Do you sell
10
Do you market
12
All of the above
20
Why in the
business
Source of income
37
No other Job
1
Interest
1
All of the above
10
Years of
involvement
<5 years
4
5-10 years
13
11-15 years
4
16-20 years
6
> 20 years
23
Achievement
Build house
4
Train children
26
Married more
1
wives
All of the above
18
Farm size
1 acre
21
1-5 acres
7
6-10 acres
2
Above 10 acres
5
Not applicable
15
* All values are multipl
e responses
16
20
24
40
74
2
2
20
26
8
12
46
52
2
36
42
14
4
10
30
Table 3: Awareness of the use of Thaumatococcus danielii
Activities
Frequency
Percentage
sed as mats
sed as fancy bags
sed as sweetners and flavour
50
50
41
sed as sponge
sed in combination with other materials as roof
46
49
se for packaging cooked pap
sed in preserving Kola
50
41
All values are multiple responses
100
100
82
92
100
82
Used as food supplements to some ruminants
46
92
Use as traditional medicine
27
54
Used as ornamental crops
7
14
58
Adebisi- Adelani O et al.,: Continental J. Agricultural Science 4: 54 - 59, 2010
Table 4: Gender involvement.
Activities
Male
Female
Children
Both
Land acquisition
43(86)
5(10)
1(2)
1(2)
Land preparation
45(90)
3(6)
-
2(4)
Planting
36(72)
6(12)
-
8(16)
Weeding
32(64)
4(8)
3(6)
11(22)
Chemical application
49(98)
1(2)
-
-
Harvesting
34(68)
-
1(2)
15(30)
Production of mat
10(20)
33(66)
1(2)
6(12)
Productionof bags
40(80)
-
2(4)
8(16)
Processing into slippers
1(2)
40(80)
2(4)
8(16)
Selling of mat
-
45(90)
-
5(10)
Selling of bags
-
42(84)
-
8(16)
Selling of leaves
-
35(70)
-
15(30)
Usage of roofing
42(84)
5(10)
-
3(6)
Use as indoor plant
47(94)
1(2)
-
2(4)
Use for fish traps
48(96)
2(4)
-
-
Use as sponge
-
33(66)
1(2)
16(32)
All values are multiple responses, Figures in parentheses are the percentages
Table 5: T-test value of Gender involvement.
Activities
T-value
Decision
Land acquisition
8.09
S
Land preparation
7.58
S
Planting
6.83
S
Chemical application
2.45
S
Production of mat
11.88
S
Production into slippers and bags
9.89
S
Selling of bags
10.26
S
Selling of leaves
14.0
S
P = (<0.005)
Table 6: Constraints to involvement in Thaumatococcus danielii
Severity
Activities
People preferring land for arable crops planting
Thaumatococcus danielii
Land availability
Difficulty of harvesting
Health hazard
Transportation
Marketing
Seaonal varation
Price instability
Cultural/social belief/norms.
Fre
%
N.S
S
VS
Rankii
19
38
36
8
6
70- 7 th
3
6
48
2
52-9 th
18
36
34
10
6
72-6*
16
32
34
10
7
74-5*
25
50
27
16
7
80-4*
29
58
22
21
7
85-2 nd
37
74
16
23
11
95-l st
30
60
20
25
5
85-2 nd
10
20
45
3
2
57-8*
Fre -Frequency, %- Percentages, NS-Not Severe, S-Severe, VS- Very severe.
Received for Publication: 12/1 1/2010
Accepted for Publication: 28/12/2010
Corresponding Author
Adebisi- Adelani O.,
National Horticultural Research Institute, P.M.B 5432, Idi-Ishin .Ibadan.
E-mail: adelanidotol@yahoo.com
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