A Gender based Economic Analysis of Yam Production among Resource Poor Farm Households in Kwara State, Nigeria

The study carries out a gender based economic analysis of yam production among resource poor farm households in Kwara State with implication for poverty reduction in the state. One hundred and eighty randomly selected representative farm households were used for the study. Descriptive statistics, budgetary analysis and multiple regression model were the analytical tools. The results of the descriptive statistics show that 85% of the heads of the farm households were male with 66% of the male heads having no western education against 59% for the female-headed households. Labour cost was the major cost of production accounting for 64% and 66% of the total cost of production for the male and female-headed households, respectively. Yam production enterprise was profitable in the study area with net farm income of N136,950 and N128,800 for male and female-headed households, respectively. The return on capital employed was 48% and 45% for male and female-headed households, respectively. This shows that for every naira invested in yam production enterprise in the study area, average returns of 48kobo and 45kobo were obtained for the male and female-headed households, respectively. Farm size, family labour and yam seeds were the significant variables explaining the variation in yam output in the study area. Farm size and labour were under-utilised while yam seeds were over-utilised. The study recommends increased farm size and labour use per hectare and reduction in yam seeds per hectare for efficient resource use and increased net farm income for better living standard for the farm households.