Analysis of Entrepreneurial Behavior among Cassava Farmers in Ebonyi State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study assessed the entrepreneurial behaviour of smallholder cassava farmers in Ebonyi State, Nigeria. Multistage sampling technique was employed in the selection of 108 cassava farmers across the agricultural zones in Ebonyi state using pretested and structured questionnaire from which data and information were elicited. Analytically, the study employed entrepreneurial behavioural index (EBI) in the assessment of entrepreneurial behaviour of the cassava farmers. The result showed that the overall entrepreneurial behaviour of the cassava farmers posted a mean value of 0.4529 on a range of 0.17 – 0.70. This implies that their minimum entrepreneurial behaviour indicates gross underutilization of entrepreneurial attributes by the farmers while the maximum shows reasonable utilization of entrepreneurial capacity. The study concluded that aggressive agricultural transformation to enhance food security in Nigeria is feasible with effective management of human as well as material resources by promoting entrepreneurial behaviour of farmers. The study therefore recommends amongst others that government at all levels needs to deepen its educational and policy support to farmers through total overhauling of activities/programmes to activate their creativity.