Assessment of Farmers’ Level of Participation in Melon Value Chain in Kwara State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study assessed the level of participation in melon value chain in Edu and Patigi Local Government Areas of Kwara State, Nigeria. For small scale domestic producers to take advantage of domestic demand, value chain need to be embraced. The study described the socio-economic characteristics, identified the factors influencing their participation and the market margin of the actors in the value chain. Respondents were purposively selected for the study. Primary data were obtained using a well-structured questionnaire complemented with interview schedule to one hundred and twenty (120) melon farmers. Descriptive statistics and probit regression model were used for data analysis. The results reveal that 87.5% of processors were male while 12.5% were female. The average age of all value chain actors were 35 while the mean household size was 5. Majority (92.5%) of actors were businessmen/women. Probit regression shows that the probability that a melon farmer will participate in value chain activities is influenced positively by their age, gender, farm size, market accessibility and membership of cooperatives. It was therefore recommended that melon farmers need to increase size of land devoted to its production. Existing cooperatives need to be strengthen so that they can have access to input resources at subsidized rate.