Gender capacity building needs on soil fertility management practices among smallholder arable crop farmers in Kwara State, Nigeria

Abstract

Poor soil fertility management practices are major reasons for slow growth in food production among smallholder farmers of sub-Saharan Africa including Nigeria. This study therefore assessed gender capacity building needs on soil fertility management practices among smallholder arable crop farmers in Kwara State, Nigeria. A structured interview guide was used to elicit information from six hundred and fifty (650) respondents using three-stage sampling technique. Data collected were described using descriptive statistics such as frequency, percentages, mean, standard deviation, charts and analysed using correlation and Borich model. The study revealed that mean age of the male farmers was 49 years while that of the female farmers was 45 years. Majority of the respondents (97.8% male and 76.7% female) were married, 49.8% male and 42.7% female respectively had one form of formal education or the other; capacity building were perceived to be mostly needed in the areas of crop rotation (MWDS = 0.0102) for male and organic manuring (MWDS = 0.0082) for female farmers; and major constraints to both male and female farmers involvement in soil fertility management practices were limited income (male x¯ = 3.65, female x¯ = 3.50) and high cost of management (male x¯ = 3.58, female x¯ = 3.54). The study concluded both male and female smallholder arable crop farmers require capacity building on soil fertility management practices but female farmers required more than their male folks. It is therefore recommends an urgent need to intensify capacity building for farmers on soil fertility management practices by the extension agents especially where the capacity building is importantly needed in order to improve their knowledge and productivity. Keywords: Gender, Capacity building, Soil fertility management practices