EMPIRICAL ANALYSES OF PRODUCTION BEHAVIOUR AMONG SMALL-SCALE SWEETPOTATO FARMERS IN EBONYI STATE NIGERIA

The study investigated some determinants of sweet potato production among small-scale farmers in Ebonyi state.Primary data were collected from 400 small-scale sweet potato farmers in Ebonyi State using a multi-stagesampling technique. The instruments used for data collection were interview schedule and focus groupdiscussion (FGD). Data collected through these methods were analysed using descriptive statistics, whileordinary least square regression was used to determine factors associated with sweet potato production. FGD wasanalysed by transcribing responses of the discussants. Findings revealed that, 46.07% of the respondents weremales while 53.93% were female farmers. The average age of the respondents was 43 years while 75% hadformal education. The average farm size was about 2.8ha. Many (64%) of the respondents had more than 10 morein the market because they were more receptive to new ideas and are less risk averse than their aged counterparts.However, there should be a threshold in terms of age beyond which the agility to participate in the market maydecline. Similarly, the coefficient of marital status (5%) also had an indirect relationship with marketparticipation. This implies that processors who are married tend to not participate in the market than theircounterparts who are not. This implies that more of the cassava products produced will be used in feeding thefamily, thus reducing the quantity taken to the market. The result agrees with that of Egbetokun et al., (2017) whoobtained similar result in his study in Osun State, Nigeria. Result of the regression analysis showed thatrespondent's age, gender, household size, educational level, Farming experience, and membership to farmersassociation were positive and significantly influenced sweet potato production. The results therefore call forpolicies aimed at provision of affordable education and encouraging experienced farmers to formgroups/associations to enhance access to innovations that will enhance production.