ABSTRACT

This study examined entrepreneurial performance and its determinants among cassava processing entrepreneurs in Abia State, Nigeria. It specifically examined socio-economic characteristics, types and sizes of businesses, entrepreneurial characteristics possessed by entrepreneurs, the determinants of performance, and profitability of value added activities. Multistage sampling techniques were used to select 120 cassava processors. Descriptive statistics, multiple regression, likert scale, and enterprise analysis techniques were employed to analyze the data collected. Six business types (3 sole, and 3 combination businesses) namely garri only, fufu only, abacha only, garri and fufu, garri and abacha and garri and flour were identified. All the businesses identified were at the micro level, employment ranged from 1 to 9. Entrepreneurs possessed all six entrepreneurial characteristics included in the study.  The overall mean score for individual characteristics was 3.45 for innovation,3.45 for creativity, 3.37 for perseverance, 3.49 for self-criticism, 3.51 for leadership, and 3.48 for market orientation. The mean scores of the characteristics were compared using t-test and it was shown that there were no differences in means. Level of education, venture capital, volume of credit and household size were significant at 1% level of significance while marital status, experience, and membership of business association were significant at 5%. Age and extension contact were not significant. R2 was 0.624. Average Net Income (NI), profitability Index (PI) and Rate of Return on Investment (RRI) in the sole businesses were highest for abacha only (N 379428.60k, 0.469, and 88.415 respectively) and lowest for garri only (N 263,112.00k, 0.336, and 50.532 respectively) while in the combination businesses they were highest for garri and abacha (N 640,850.00k, 0.416, and 69.643 respectively) and lowest for garri and flour (N 348,900.00k, 0.239, and 32.402 respectively). Comparing profitability across businesses/enterprises showed significant difference in profitability across many businesses. The study therefore concludes that entrepreneurs were performing given the limited resources available to them. They possessed positive personal characteristics which enabled them run profitable businesses against all odds. It was however found that cassava-processing and value-addition were still at primary level, a situation which is traceable to lack of adequate investment capital and other factors external to the entrepreneur and his business. It is therefore recommended that more investment be made by government and other stakeholders (especially in provision adequate credit and training) to enable entrepreneurs in the sub-sector acquire necessary capacities to engage in more meaningful and industrially-significant value-adding processing.