Analysis of Gender Roles in Plantain Production and Commercialization in the Banana Bunchy Top Disease Affected Area of South Region, Cameroon

Abstract

The objective of this study was aim to examine the gender roles in production and commercialization of plantain/banana on small farm holdings in the banana bunchy disease affected area as well as examining the various type of labour available in the area.  Field survey was conducted in three major plantain production and commercialization villages in the region. It used primary and secondary data collected using the Harvard analytical framework, Focus group discussions, key informant interviews and semi-structured interviews using the snowball and purposive sampling techniques to obtain data from 141 respondents. The major descriptive results reveal that: the sample was made of 46.1% of females and 53.9% of males. The age range of the respondents was from 15 to 76 years with the most active population falling within the age range 36-45 years. Two main types of labour were identified: family and hired labour and 10 factors were identified which affected these labour types. The results of the logistic regression showed that age, level of education, years of experience in plantain farming, farm size, yearly income from the sales of plantains and the main reason for cultivating plantains were significant at 5% and 10% confidence interval and had positive effect on the choice of the type of labour used and an Odds ratios greater than or equal to 1.  Gender, matrimonial status, household size and ownership of farm proceeds had a negative effect and Odds ratios less than 1. Thus, to be able to solve the problem of labour shortage needed in the various farm activities, it was recommended that farmers can reduce their farm sizes and the younger population who are more energetic be encourage to indulge in farm activities. Villages should be encouraged to further their education so as to better understand and implement Banana Bunchy Top Disease (BBTD) containment measures.