Building an Inclusive Value Chain: Gender Participation in Cassava Marketing and Processing in Nigeria

The Nigerian cassava value chain shows different gender roles for men and women in marketing and processing activities. Women are typically found in the less profitable work and at the bottom of the value chain because of their position in the labor market. This study identifies farm and individual factors that shape gender participation in various phases of the cassava value chain and measures gender differences in the marketing and processing phases of the cassava value chain. The study draws from the survey of 4 geopolitical zones in Nigeria conducted by IITA in 2010 that surveyed 952 respondents consisting of 221 women. Results were analyzed using descriptive statistics like frequencies, mean, range, and standard deviation and inferential tools like t-test, chi-square, correlation, and multiple linear regression to test the hypotheses. We draw from the sustainable livelihood approach for the theoretical framework. The analysis indicated that more women were involved in the marketing phase than men, while more men were in the processing node than women. Additionally, producing cassava now, land allocated to cassava farming, level of education, marital status, and household size registered correlation with the index of participation in marketing. However, only household size registered a weak correlation with the index of participation in processing.