Analysis of Extent of Awareness and Adoption of Improved Oil Palm Fruit Processing Technology in Kogi State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study analyzed the extent of awareness and adoption of improved oil palm fruit processing technology in Kogi State, Nigeria. Using purposive multi-stage sampling procedure, a sample of 240 oil palm processors was taken from three out of four agricultural zones of the study area to represent the population. Data for the study were collected through the use of structured questionnaire. Organization and description of data were done by the use of frequency distribution table, percentage, mean and sigma/adoption scoring method. The findings indicated that significant proportion (60.4%) of the processors were female with a mean age of 43 years and an average household size of 8 persons. Majority (73.3%) were married, while 82.5% had formal education. The processors were found to be largely experienced with the average of 16 years of experience. In addition, 62.5% of the respondents had less than 5 extension contacts annually, 87.5% were aware of the improved oil palm processing technology, but only 36.2% adopted the technology. The adoption score of 4.176 for oil palm processors who adopted the use of the palm oil extraction technology revealed low level of adoption of the technology in the study area. Based on the finding, it was recommended that the improved oil palm processing technologies/machines should be made affordable to processors by way of governmental subsidy policy to enhance prospective adoption of the technologies.

Keywords: Awareness, adoption, oil palm, improved processing technology.