ANALYSIS OF THE EFFECTS OF WOMEN FARMERS' INVOLVEMENT IN COOPERATIVES ACTIVITIES ON THEIR ACCESS TO FERTILIZER

This study analyzed the effects of women farmers’ involvement in cooperative activities on their access to fertilizer in Ondo State, Nigeria. The objectives of the study are to ascertain the impact of cooperatives on access to fertilizer and examine the constraints to cooperative activities carried out by women farmers. The list of women farmer cooperative members was collected from the local government area. Simple random sampling was used to select fifty respondents and structure questionnaire was used to elicit information from them.  The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as frequency tables and percentages while regression analysis was used to ascertain the variables that affect access of women farmers to fertilizer. The findings shows that majority (82%) of the respondents had access to formal education, 76% had annual income with a maximum of N200,000.00, 52% are married and 64% have a family size of 4 at the minimum. The regression result analysis revealed that variables like types of fertilizer used, bags of fertilizer applied per annum are significant determinants of access to fertilizer, thus, they are variables that have tremendous implication for access to fertilizer. It was therefore recommended that the government should put in place a policy that will liberalize access to fertilizer for the respondents.