Capacity Building Needs of Women Farmers in Jatropha Seed Oil Processing for Sustainable Biodiesel Feedstock Supply and Income Generation

Abstract

The scenario of depleting fossil fuel reserves and the negative impact of carbon emissions from the fuels on the environment calls for a worldwide paradigm shift. This gave rise to the need to diversify into a more sustainable energy source. As a result, this study focused on determining the skills capacity building needs of women farmers in Jatropha oil processing for sustainable biodiesel feedstock supply and income generation in North-Central, Nigeria. Three research questions were answered for the study. The population was 93. The entire population responded to the questionnaire items. A thirty-30 items Jatropha Oil Processing and Marketing Skills questionnaire (JOPMSQ) was developed for data collection based on the literature reviewed. Three experts validated the questionnaire. Split-half technique was used to establish a reliability coefficient of 0.84. Then, Ninety-three (93) copies of the instrument were distributed to respondents using five (5) research assistants. The mean and Improvement Need Index (INI) was used to answer the research questions. Findings revealed that women farmers in the area needed capacity building in 7 skills in planning for Jatropha processing, 8 skills in extracting oil from the seed, and 10 skills in marketing Jatropha oil respectively. The study recommended among others that government should train and deploy extension workers to, in turn, train the women farmers on the Jatropha oil processing skills thus, enhancing capacity building.