Tim-Ashama, A. C.2025-02-272025-02-272023-09Tim-Ashama, A . C .(2023)Analysis of gender equality opportunities and resource use in cereal value chain : Evidence from youth engagement in rice value chain un Sourth- East, Nigeria.Federal University of Technology,Owerrihttps://repository.futo.edu.ng/handle/20.500.14562/1661A Doctoral Thesis on "gender equality opportunities and resource use"The study analyzed gender equity opportunities and resource use in cereal value chain: evidence from youth engagement in rice value chains in Nigeria. it identify the actors and gender roles along rice value chain; examine by gender, the socioeconomic characteristics of actors along the rice value chain; determine the level of gender equity gap in opportunities along the rice value chain; determine the technical efficiency and sources of inefficiency among male and female actors along the rice value chain; determine the value added and the share of the value added by gender along the rice value chain; estimate the factors affecting value added by gender along rice value chain and, identify the constraints to youth engagement in the rice value chain, by gender. A multistage sampling technique was adopted for this study. The sample size consists of 476 youth rice value chain actors randomly selected from 48 villages across three states in South-East Nigeria. The data were collected using questionnaires and analyzed using Modified Gender Equity Index (MGEI), stochastic meta-frontier, value addition and multiple regression models. Descriptive statistics such as frequency, percentages, charts and mean were also used to realize some additional results. Results from MGEI show that the level of gender equity opportunities for youth rice producers, processors and marketers were-0.21,-0.21 and-0.04, respectively, indicating inequity against the female youth. The mean technical efficiency for male and female producers are 0.64 and 0.59, processors 0.70 and 0.69 and marketers 0.52 and 0.61. The determinant factors of technical inefficiency among male and female youth in the study area were level of education, membership of cooperative society, years of experience and access to credit. The overall value-added per tonne by the male youth actors was ₦52,281 and the female youth actor was ₦52,229. The share of the value-added by male youth producers, processors and marketers were 51.65%, 49.41% and 47.78% while the female youth were 48.38%, 50.59% and 52.22%, respectively. Some factors affecting value added by actors in rice value chain were level of education, years of experience, capital invested, information and distance to actor’s node. The major constraints to youth engagement in rice value chain include lack of capital to start up, lack of access to credit, drought, lack of access to better technology, high cost of hiring/operating machines, lack of technical knowhow/skills, and stressful nature of rice value chain. In addition, the female processors added marital challenges and responsibilities as a major challenge while recommends that Policies and interventions that ensure equal access to resources, opportunities, and decision-making power for both male and female youth actors should be implemented through targeted training programmes, awareness campaigns and capacity-building initiatives that promote gender equality. In addition, access to affordable credit and financial services for youth involved in rice value chain should be strengthened through establishment of financial institutions and mechanisms specially targeting youth in agricultural sectors.enAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 InternationalGender equityresource usevalue chainyouth engagementanalysisagricultural economicsDoctoral Thesis