Abstract

Historically, black soap was a prominent indigenous enterprise in Oyo State, Nigeria where it was taken as a means of livelihood for the resource poor rural households, but gradually, becoming less popular within the rural populace. This study identified the crucial factors, the constraints faced by rural households in the production of black soap and the characteristics of the enterprise Primary data were elicited from 210 members of rural households involved in black-soap business using interview schedule that was well validated. Data collected were summarised using descriptive statistics including percentages, means and standard deviation while factor analysis was used to identify key factors affecting rural households’ involvement in black-soap enterprise. The results revealed that the mean age of respondents was 53.8 ± 15.5 years. Majority (96.2%) were females and majority (94.8%) inherited their skills from older family members. The identified characteristics of the enterprise include its compatibility with the local culture (mean = 3.88) and reliability as a source of income (mean = 3.71). Associated constraints include inadequate capital (mean = 2.20), drudgery operation (mean = 1.98) and lack of credit facilities (mean = 1.84). Factors influencing involvement include production regularity (19.9%), personal characteristics (15.4%), external influence (6.4%) and household strength (4.8%). It was concluded that the identified factors were germane to the involvement of rural households in the indigenous black soap enterprise.

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