Smallholder agriculture is characterized by underemployment during off seasons, low-income earnings
and severe post harvest losses. The study thus analyzed the economics of cassava processing by rural
farm households to establish the socio-economic and policy strategies required to stimulate rural
enterprise. Multistage sampling technique was used to collect data from 150 respondents using
structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, budgetary analysis and the Cobb Douglas regression
function were used to analyze the collected data. Results revealed that women constituted 90% of
processors and had a mean age of 36 years. Family sizes averaged 9 while the level of education
among the processors was low (e.g. more than 80% did not read beyond primary school level). The
initial capital invested in the enterprise averaged N10,106.80 ($80.85) and came mostly from personal
savings. The gross margin and net income were N329,178.00 and N68,119.00 respectively. The internal
rate of return to cassava enterprise was 1.84 while the benefit-cost ratio was 1.17. The regression
analyses showed that age, experience and size of enterprise were significant determinants of the
profitability of cassava processing enterprises while age, experience, level of education and initial
capital outlay were significant determinants of the size of enterprise. Policy efforts should be geared
towards accessing processors with locally fabricated machines while policy, research and extension
regarding food processing at the rural farm-gate should be tailored to meet the needs and constraints
of women.