Abstract

The study examined the socio economic contribution of kola nut production on rural dwellers in Imeko Afon Local government area of Ogun State. A Multi stage sampling procedure was used to select 215 respondents in the study area. Data collected through the use of a questionnaire subjected to descriptive statistics. The socioeconomic characteristics revealed that most of the respondents (58%) were male, 67.4% are married, most of the respondents have no formal education (63.3%) and trading is the major primary occupation (51.7%).  Result also showed that 36.7% confirmed that kola nut is used in the treatment of some health related problems, 41.4 % of the respondent strongly agreed that there are high returns on the sale of the nut. The study further showed that 47.0% agreed that kolanut serve as source of foreign exchange while 40.0% of the respondents agreed that it is a source of income to farmers and 33.5% agreed that it serves as source of raw materials for industry. The major constraints identified by respondents were transportation of goods, storage facilities, poor marketing channel, unavailability of improved variety and lack of capital to mention a few. From findings, the socio economic contribution is favourable but the level of production is low and has not reached commercialization in the study area. It is recommended that the private and public sectors should be involved in the production of kola nuts by investing. Government should provide adequate infrastructure and cooperative body which will be of help to farmers in providing soft loans enhance production.

Key Words:Economic contribution, Kolanut production, Descriptive statistics