Abstract

The study was conducted in the Central Gonja District located at the southern end of the Northern region of Ghana which lies between latitude 9° 15′ and 9° 05′ N and longitude 0° 45′ and 1° 0′ W. The study focused on the contribution of cassava processing to the standard of living of women processors. Information on the level of income of processors, cost of processing, level of food security as well as challenges facing processors were obtained with structured and semi-structured questionnaires from 50 selected women processors. Data was pooled, collated and summarized into frequency distribution and percentages using Microsoft Excel. The average monthly revenue was 88.1, Ghana cedis and the average monthly total cost was 44 Ghana cedis implying a monthly net profit of 44.1 Ghana cedis for an average cassava processor. Challenges faced by the processors include: Inadequate funds (100%), inadequate storage facilities (98%), low price of processed products (90%), poor packaging materials (84%) and health hazards (64%). Cassava processing is profitable and contributes significantly to the standards of living of women, however, the challenges processors encounter could drastically reduce the level of processing and economic returns affecting the standards of living of the processors.

Key words: Ghana, cassava, processors.