Analysis of gender roles in tomato production in Municipal Area Council, Abuja, Nigeria

Abstract

This study analyzed gender roles in tomato production in Municipal Area Council, Abuja, Nigeria. The study described socio-economic characteristics of the tomato farmers, examined the activities carried out in tomato production, estimated costs and returns of tomato production, and identified constraints faced by tomato farmers in the study area. A multi-stage random sampling technique was adopted and a well structured questionnaire with scheduled interview were used to elicit information from one hundred and twenty respondents. Descriptive statistics, gross margin analysis and z-test were the analytical tools employed in this study. Results of the socio-economic characteristics of tomato farmers revealed that majority (69.2%) of the respondents were male with a mean age of 45 years old. Results showed that male tomato farmers carried out land clearing (51.8%) by personal labour while their female counterpart carried out land clearing (48.6%) by family labour. Result of the profitability analysis showed that the gross margin of N67,083.64 and N34,325.38 were realized for both male and female tomato farmers, respectively per cropping season. Tomato production in the study area was highly profitable for both male and female tomato farmers. The return on naira invested was N1.99k and N1.67k for male and female tomato farmers respectively. Results showed that inadequate capital, lack of improved planting seeds, lack of contact with extension services among others were major constraints that affect tomato production in the study area. Therefore, female tomato farmers should be encouraged to cultivate improved crop varieties with strong seed coat and longer shelf life. The female tomato farmers could pool their resources together to purchase motorcycles or vehicles for easy movement of their produce from farm gates to market places in order to reduce high perishability of tomato fruits. Also, female tomato farmers should endeavor to use farm machinery and herbicides to solve the problems of inadequate labour supply and use of simple farm tools respectively, which do not encourage large scale production. The male tomato farmers should control pests and diseases infestation, package their tomato fruits to make them more attractive to consumers in order to earn higher market price.