ANALYSIS OF WOMEN’S ADOPTION AND UTILIZATION OF SELECTED NCAM AGRO-PROCESSING EQUIPMENT

Abstract

The study examined the level of awareness, perception and utilization of NCAM                       agro-processing equipment by women agro-processors. A cross-section of 76 women            agro-processors drown from across the six geo-political zones of the country was used for the study. A well-structured questionnaire was used to collect data for the study and analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics respectively. Result from the analysis indicated that there was generally a very low awareness and level of exposure to agro-processing equipment among the respondents with only 20% exposure rate and just 18% awareness of NCAM technologies among the women agro-processors. The result of the correlation analysis showed that, there exist a significant and positive relationship between the practice of mechanized agriculture, previous operational knowledge of mechanized processing machines and interaction with NCAM Equipment, highlighting the significant effect of exposure and hands-on practical experience in promoting the adoption of machines. There was a very high level of participant’s engagement with cassava and oil palm processing equipment, the most engaged includes cassava peelers, mechanical graters, and garri fryers being the most used and rated the easiest to operate among all the machines. In contrast, there was a lower level of use with the melon and oil palm processing equipment demonstrating the need for strategic awareness campaigns among women agro-processors. Further-more, the study underscore the significance of gender-responsive technology designs and the need for continuous capacity building in the promotion of agro-processing equipment, in order to drive high rate of adoption among the agro-processors thereby, enhancing productivity and, decreasing drudgery as well as increasing rural lively-hood support.