Cassava (Manihot esculenta) Processing Skills Required by Unemployed Youths for Gainful Self-employment in Abia State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study focused on cassava (Manihot esculenta) processing skills required by unemployed youths for gainful self-employment in Abia State, Nigeria. Specifically, it determined skills needed for raw cassava preparation; flour and starch processing. Three null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. Descriptive survey design was adopted. Population comprised 491 stakeholders—43 lecturers, 32 agricultural extension officers, and 416 registered cassava processors. Questionnaire was used for data collection. Data were analyzed using mean, standard deviation, and ANOVA to test null hypotheses at a 0.05 significance level. Findings include, 11 skills for preparing cassava raw material, including ability to: select matured cassava roots (X̅= 2.79), and others. Other findings are 14 skills for processing cassava into flour, including ability to: slice peeled and washed cassava roots into small pieces at x 2.8 cm (X̅= 3.05) and so on. Further findings are 19 skills for processing cassava into starch, including ability to: grate cassava roots in a hammer mill (X̅= 3.04), collect the mash with clean containers (X̅= 3.17). findings also show no significance differences among the mean responses of the three groups of stakeholders on all the cassava processing skills at 0.05 level of significance. Five recommendations were made, including identified cassava processing skills should be integrated into vocational and agricultural training curricula for youths and others.