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Rural Energy Needs of Smallholder Women Farmers for Improved Farm Productivity and Rural Business Enterprises in Abia State, Nigeria

 Godson-Ibeji CC, Chikaire JU*, Ajaero JO and Markalbert US
Department of Agricultural Extension, School of Agriculture and Agricultural Technology, Federal University of Technology , Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria

Received Date: October 21, 2020; Accepted Date: December 03, 2020; Published Date: December 11, 2020;
^*Corresponding author: Chikaire JU, Department of Agricultural Extension, Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria. Tel: 08065928862; Email: futo.edu.ng@gmail.com

Citation: Chikaire JU, Godson-Ibeji CC, Ajaero JO, Markalbert US (2020) Rural energy needs of smallholder women farmers for improved farm productivity And rural business enterprises in abia state, Nigeria. Adv in Agri, Horti and Ento: AAHE-133.

Abstract
      The study investigated the energy needed by rural women farmers to improve their livelihood and agricultural production in Abia state. The specific objectives were to identify the energy needs, identify energy needs rural business enterprises; and to identify the energy sources available to the respondents in the study area; identify the effects of access to energy on women farmers,. A purposive sampling technique was adopted in selecting 150 respondents. Data were collected by use of structured questionnaire and interview schedule. Simple descriptive statistics such as mean, percentage and frequency distribution and a 4-scale likert type scale were used to analyse the data. The result revealed that women in the study area need energy for many activities, both on farm and off farm and some of the areas include cooking, processing, storing, telecommunication, infrastructure and transportation and others. Increased productivity, high income generation, reduced stress, increased living conditions are some of the effects of access to energy have on rural women farmers. The women in the area have few energy sources on which they depend on to carry out their various activities and these sources include machines, electricity and human power. Based on the findings, recommendations were made on women being seen as great movers of agricultural production and should be allowed and assisted to have better access to energy sources just like their male counterparts.

Keywords: Agricultural Production; Energy Needs; Livelihood; Rural Wome

Introduction
      The global food sector is dependent on energy inputs. The natural energy flows from the sun and the various forms of chemical energy stored biologically in the soils and oceans are essential for plant growth to produce food, fish and fibre (FAO, 2011a). In agricultural production, humans use external energy inputs to support natural processes so that a given area of land or water produces more than it would do otherwise. This auxiliary energy can come in many forms: human labour, animal power, fossil fuels, renewable energy or mechanical energy obtained from the consumption of liquid fuels in engines (FAO, 2011a).

      Agriculture contributes significantly to economic and social development in the vast majority of developing countries. 45 per cent of the developing world‘s population lives in households involved in agriculture and most depend on agriculture and the agri-based economy for their livelihoods. In agriculture-based countries, the agricultural sector generates on average 29 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), employs 65 per cent of the labour force, and is crucial in driving overall growth. The increase in agricultural productivity is the primary driver of global poverty reduction (World Bank, 2007).

      In providing for human needs, agriculture has many functions: its primary role is to produce food and other primary goods for human consumption and thereby contribute to food security. Agriculture provides foodstuffs and drinks, produces animal feed and also delivers a wide range of non-food goods and services(Utz, 2011; Best, 2014). For example, plant and crop-based resources are used as raw materials for a wide variety of industrial product, including pharmaceuticals, synthetics, biofuel production, rubber for tyre production, wood and other fibres for paper and furniture production, starches for adhesives and as ingredients in the confectionery industry, vegetable oils are used as food additives and in paints and resins, and of course fibres such as cotton, silk, linen, jute and hemp are used in the clothing industry. All these production and transformation steps require energy, which is thus considered a key factor in agriculture in achieving sustainable development and poverty reduction.

      Modern energy services are distinct from human and animal power. Energy inputs to modern and sustainable agricultural production and processing systems is a key factor in moving beyond subsistent farming towards food security, added value in rural areas and expansion into new agricultural markets. (Utz, 2011).

      Women make up around 43 per cent of the agricultural workforce in developing countries (FAO, 2011). Certain tasks are considered women’s and girls’ work in particular settings, such as weeding, milling or grinding, or collecting water for irrigation and drinking. Women tend to have less access than men to mechanical equipment, yet done manually these are backbreaking tasks.14 Shifting to mechanical or electrical power (such as for water pumping or operating mills) is often argued to be a way to reduce women’s drudgery and free up time for leisure or other activities (Köhlin et al., 2011). The FAO estimates that if women generally had the same access to productive resources as men – including energy and equipment – they could increase yields on their farms by 20–30 per cent, raising total agricultural output in developing countries by 2.5–4 per cent (FAO, 2011b).

      It seems virtually impossible to quantify energy gaps in smallholder agriculture and related rural enterprises, since energy sources and uses are so diverse and diffuse, scattered across millions of small farms and communities. However, some of the headline statistics give a hint of the scale of the problem. In sub-Saharan Africa:

• Most farm power relies on human effort (65 per cent) or animal power (25 per cent), with a minority from engines (10 per cent). This is much lower than for other developing regions, where engines constitute 50 per cent of farm power (FAO/UNIDO, 2008).
• Just 4 per cent of cropland is irrigated, compared with 39 per cent in South Asia and 29 per cent in East Asia (Practical Action, 2012).

      An estimated 10–20 per cent of grains are lost after they are harvested at an annual cost of uS$4bn – equal to the value of cereals imported each year (World Bank, 2011). Smallholder farmers’ are understood here as rural producers using mainly family labour to cultivate crops or raise livestock for their own consumption, or for sale to local markets and processing plants.

      Across many developing countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, smallholder agriculture is still largely based on human work using simple hand tools for activities like tilling or weeding, and draught animal power, for instance in ploughing or transporting goods. This is quite a different starting point for most energy planners, utilities and investors, who are mainly concerned with large-scale grid expansion to homes and industry (Best, 2014). Energy is one of many inputs to productive processes, and it is hard to disentangle its impact from other factors and since agriculture is practiced by many poor and vulnerable women, it is therefore important to know the energy needed for optimal production. The knowledge of these energy need creates a better access to better development outcomes.

      Whether this applies to the study area is unknown, therefore this study. Specifically the study aims to: a. identify the energy needs of women farmers in the study area; b. identify energy sources available to the respondents in the study area; c. identify rural business enterprises energy needs; and d. examine perceived effects of access to rural energy on women farmers.

Methodology
      The study was carried out in Abia State of Nigeria. Abia State lies between latitude 5^o 25¹ and 5^o 42¹ North of the equator and between longitude 7^o 30¹ and 7^o 50¹ East of the Greenwich meridian. It is located within the Southeast zone of Nigeria. Abia state occupies about 5834 square kilometers and is bound in the North and Northeast by the states of Anambra, Enugu and Ebonyi. To the West of Abia State is Imo state, to the East and Southeast are Cross River State and Akwa Ibom State, and to the South is River state. The most important rivers in Abia state are the Imo and Aba rivers, which flow into the Atlanta ocean through the Niger Delta. The state is made up of 17 local Government Areas. The two main sources of data collection used in this research were, the primary and the secondary data. The primary data were collected using structured interview schedule and questionnaire while the secondary was collected from books, reports, journals, existing literature reviews, bulletin and information from the library. The population under study consisted of all women farmers in the State. Purposive sampling technique was used for this study. Three food producing Local Government Areas were selected namely; Isiala-Ngwa South from Abia Central, Obingwa from Abia South and Ugwunagbo from Abia North purposively. A list containing 1500 women farmers was obtained from the Agricultural Officers of the 3 LGAs.  From this list, 150 women farmers were randomly selected for the study. Data were collected by use of structured questionnaire and interview schedule and  analyzed using descriptive statistics such as mean, percentage presented in frequency tables. Objectives analyze 1 and 3 .A four (4) point Likert type scale of Strongly Agreed, Agreed, Disagreed and Strongly Disagreed, assigned values of 4 to 1 was used to analyze objective 2 which is mathematically represented as

Therefore, a mean of 2.50 was adjudged okay and acceptable as effects on them, while any value below 2.50 was not accepted.

Results and Discussion
Energy needs of respondents 

       (Table 1) showed that 67.3% of the women need energy for cooking, 64% need it for various processing activities, 58.7% need it for house lighting 54.7% need energy for storing, 46.7% need energy for telecommunication, 42.7% need energy for infrastructure and transportation, 40.7% need energy in their land preparation, 37.3% need it for drying, 36.7 need energy for pumping water, 32% need energy for grinding, 30% need it for cultivation, another 30% need it for ploughing their field while 24.7% and 15.3% need energy for harvesting / threshing and packing respectively. This is in line with the classification of energy need by Utz, (2011), who reported that key energy requirements of smallholders which include:

• Energy for transport to take goods to market and supply other key services that farmers need, and;
• Energy for production, processing and commercialisation of products. This covers activities, such as pumping water to irrigate crops, drying fruits and vegetables, or charging mobile phones to obtain market price. Also supported by the classification of Best(2014) who highlighted four basic areas of energy needs namely: land preparation, irrigation, processing and storage.