Women Involvement in Locust Beans Processing as a Livelihood Activity in Ejigbo Local Government Area, Osun State, Nigeria

The study assessed the involvement of women in the production of locust beans as a livelihood activity in Ejigbo Local Government Area of Osun State. Specifically, the study ascertained the locust beans processing activities which the women were involved in, determined the profitability of locust beans and production constraints. A two-stage sampling technique was used to select a total of 120 respondents for data collection. Data collected were analysed using frequency counts, percentages, means and standard deviation as well as correlation analysis for inferential statistics. The results showed high involvement of the women in the processing of locust beans. Their net profit was found to be ₦1,499.36 per production cycle with benefit cost ratio of 1.84. The most pressing constraints identified include high time demand (=3.98±0.16) and high cost of firewood (=3.93±0.29) among others. Results of hypothesis test showed that age (r=0.456), household size (r=0.256) and years of experience (r=0.453) were significantly associated with involvement in locust beans processing activities. It was concluded that women were profitably involved in locust beans processing as a livelihood activity despite its time consuming nature and increasing inputs’ cost. Necessarily, labour and time saving technologies should be employed for reducing the drudgery of the processing activities and to improve productivity.