URBAN VEGETABLE PRODUCTION AMONG WOMEN IN ILORIN, NIGERIA.

A.M. Tunde

Women contribute significantly to agricultural production in both rural and urban areas in order to be food secure as well as alleviate poverty. This paper focuses on the contributions of women to agriculture within an urban setting emphasizing vegetable production in Ilorin metropolis. The study specifically examines the demographic characteristics of the women vegetable cultivators, reasons for cultivating vegetables, types of vegetable cultivated, sources of production resources, marketing and the income realised from sales of vegetables for an improvement in their well being. Precisely, 90 women farmers from three different locations within the metropolis were purposively surveyed with copies of questionnaire. Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) were also organised with the women farmers. Percentages were employed to analyze the socio-economic data and Chi-square was employed to test hypothesis. The result of the chi-square (0.918) revealed that there is a relationship between women’s involvement in urban vegetable production and the well being of their households. The study concludes by encouraging more women to be involved in vegetable production in order to make vegetables available to their families and other urban dwellers.

Key words: Farming, Urban areas, Food security, Standard of living, Vegetables.