<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>Persistent drop in quality of Nigerian cocoa exported to the international communities portends a grave danger to the economy of the country. This study investigates factors determining adoption of bean quality improvement practices by cocoa farmers in Cross River State, Nigeria. Using a two-stage random sampling technique to select 336 farmers from communities with high production, data were collected with a structured questionnaire and subjected to factor analysis and descriptive statistical procedures. The data revealed that majority of the respondents (66.1%) were male with mean age of 48 years, 78.6% were formally educated whereas 31.0% had a quarterly contact with extension agents. Most of the respondents (98.2%) had high perception on practices considered as being adequate for improving the quality of cocoa beans. There was a positive and significant relationship between perception on cocoa bean quality and adoption of bean quality improvement practices (r = 0.142 and <italic>p</italic> = 0.001) at one percent level of significance. Factor analysis showed that socioeconomic, production, technological and institutional factors with Eigenvalues of 3.312, 2.403, 1.862 and 1.055, respectively, accounted for the quality of cocoa beans. However, educational level of farmers (0.867), cost of inputs (−0.724), relative advantage of the practice (0.683) and contact with extension agents (0.703) exert greater influence on farmers’ capacity to produce quality cocoa beans. The identified variables should therefore be considered when disseminating improved practices to cocoa farmers for increased adoption.</p>
</abstract>

Persistent drop in quality of Nigerian cocoa exported to the international communities portends a grave danger to the economy of the country. This study investigates factors determining adoption of bean quality improvement practices by cocoa farmers in Cross River State, Nigeria. Using a two-stage random sampling technique to select 336 farmers from communities with high production, data were collected with a structured questionnaire and subjected to factor analysis and descriptive statistical procedures. The data revealed that majority of the respondents (66.1%) were male with mean age of 48 years, 78.6% were formally educated whereas 31.0% had a quarterly contact with extension agents. Most of the respondents (98.2%) had high perception on practices considered as being adequate for improving the quality of cocoa beans. There was a positive and significant relationship between perception on cocoa bean quality and adoption of bean quality improvement practices (r = 0.142 and p = 0.001) at one percent level of significance. Factor analysis showed that socioeconomic, production, technological and institutional factors with Eigenvalues of 3.312, 2.403, 1.862 and 1.055, respectively, accounted for the quality of cocoa beans. However, educational level of farmers (0.867), cost of inputs (−0.724), relative advantage of the practice (0.683) and contact with extension agents (0.703) exert greater influence on farmers’ capacity to produce quality cocoa beans. The identified variables should therefore be considered when disseminating improved practices to cocoa farmers for increased adoption.

Factors determining adoption of bean quality improvement practices by cocoa farmers in Cross River State, Nigeria

Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development

Agricultura Tropica et Subtropica

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Persistent drop in quality of Nigerian cocoa exported to the international communities portends a grave danger to the economy of the country. This study...

Factors determining adoption of bean quality improvement practices by cocoa farmers in Cross River State, Nigeria

Publié en ligne: 30 mars 2021

Pages: 32 - 42

Reçu: 16 avr. 2019

Accepté: 04 mars 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ats-2021-0004

Mots clés
quality, determinant factors, farmers, questionnaire, Cross River State

© 2021 Abdulrazak Kamal Daudu et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Factors determining adoption of bean quality improvement practices by cocoa farmers in Cross River State, Nigeria

Publié en ligne: 30 mars 2021

Pages: 32 - 42

Reçu: 16 avr. 2019

Accepté: 04 mars 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ats-2021-0004

Mots clésquality, determinant factors, farmers, questionnaire, Cross River State

© 2021 Abdulrazak Kamal Daudu et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Mots clés
quality, determinant factors, farmers, questionnaire, Cross River State