ABSTRACT

The study was conducted to assess farmer‘s participation in brown sugar processing in Makarfi, Soba and Kubau LGAs. A multistage sampling method was used. Data were collected from a total of 138 respondents using structured questionnaire and interview schedule. Data analysis was carried out using descriptive statistics, logit regression, one sample t-test and t-test independent. The result showed that the age of the majority of the respondents fell between 31 and 50 years. Majority (75%) of the respondents were married. About (97%) of the respondents had one form of education of another. Logit Regression analysis showed that activity perform (1.01) and total income (0.00) were significantly related / influence to full- time participation at 1% level of significance while household size (1.20) and extension contact (0.06) were significantly related/ influence to full- time participation at 5% level of significance with a log likelihood of -30.76368, Pseudo R2 of 0.6498 and LR statistic of 114.15 which shows that the model has a good fit, Sex, age, marital status, level of education, primary occupation, access to credit, processing experience and cooperative association have positive coefficient, though not significant. One sample t- test reveals that differences existed between the mean income of brown sugar, molasses, bagasse and their total income. The mean income of brown sugar (N 39,615.66) was higher than that of bagasse (N12, 311.70) and molasses (N31, 303.42). Some of the constraints facing respondents in the study areas were insufficient capital to expand their businesses, lack of improve processing equipment, Lack of good roads network and Lack of marketing links were the major problems. It was recommended that government should make fund available to farmers inform of agricultural soft loan, make available improve processing machine at subsidize rate, farmers should form co-operative group (processors group) and more extension agents should be employed.

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1    Background of the Study

Nigeria is an agrarian society with about 70% of her over 170 million population

engaging in agricultural production (NBS, 2014). Agriculture is therefore the most

assured engine of development and a reliable key to industrialization. Since the

discovery of petroleum in commercial quantities in Nigeria, oil importance to the

Nigerian economy has been increasing. But, in spite of the huge but ephemeral

revenue derived from petroleum, agriculture remains the cornerstone of the

Nigerian economy (Salami, 2006). The contribution of Agriculture to the GDP in

2014 is 40% (NBS, 2014).

Sugar from sugar cane is extracted today much the same as it was 40 years ago.

Sugarcane has been grown all over the world in several types, and reached a

popularity peak in the 1700s with the rise of Atlantic sugar plantations (Hoyum,

2014). Sugar cane was first introduced into the country along the western and

eastern coast of Nigeria in the fifteenth century (Colonial Era) by European sailors

(Busari, 2004). However, only few farmers planted it then as a backyard garden

crop because it was not possible to process it into a meal but was only fit for

chewing. Following the development of the technique of making honey from sugar

cane around the beginning of the 18th century, further interest in the crop was

generated and it rapidly spread from the coast to the other parts of the country,

even to the drier northern areas, (Busari, 2004). By the end of the first world war,

the technology for the production of crude sugar cakes, (Brown sugar) Jaggery

1

(India) or Mazarkwaila(Hausa) had been developed. Today, Mazarkwaila is still a

common sugar product in the northern part of Nigeria where it is used as a

traditional sweetener. Sugar has been the most widely used sweetener for

commercial purposes by man. Sugar is consumed by households and particularly

the industries where it serves as raw materials for companies in the foods and

beverages     industry    i.e.  &n