International Journal of Agricultural Policy and Research






Search for Articles on Google by:



Search for Related Articles:
On Google
On Google Scholar




Original Research Article

Awareness and participation of rural women in the selected development interventions in Imo State, Nigeria

Egwuonwu Helen A.


Department of Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development. P.M.B 2000 Imo State University, Owerri, Nigeria.

Author’s E-mail: egwuonwu.helen(at)yahoo.com


Article Number: IJAPR.18.015  |   Pages: 127-134  |   Vol.6 (8), August 2018   |   DOI: https://doi.org/10.15739/IJAPR.18.015

 Received: June 18, 2018  Accepted: August 30, 2018  Published: August 31, 2018

Abstract

The study examined awareness and participation of rural women in selected development interventions in Imo State of Nigeria. The study determined the socioeconomic characteristics of rural women, level of awareness and participation of rural women in the development projects. Data for the study were collected using a structured questionnaire from 402 rural women in the three agricultural zones of Imo state through a multi-stage sampling technique. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics such as mean, percentages, frequency distribution and Ordinary Least Square (OLS) multiple regression technique. The result showed that the majority of the rural women were aware of development intervention. The main source of awareness of development interventions among the rural women was through radio. Majority of the rural women fully participated in Maternal Health Programme (mean = 2.34); Women in Agriculture programme (mean = 2.23) and Special Programme on Food Security (mean = 2.06). However, the majority of the rural women had low participation in the following development interventions; FADAMA (mean = 1.60), National Poverty Eradication Programme (mean = 1.55), Rural Micro Credit Programme (mean= 1.33), Small Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) (mean = 1.30), SURE P (mean = 1.06) and European Union Micro Projects Programme (mean = 1.06).The mean level of participation in development intervention was 1.84 out of the acceptable mean level of 2 indicating a low level of participation. The OLS result showed that women’s age, years of education, household size, major occupation, income and years of experience showed significant contributions in the level of participation in rural development. Therefore, the study recommended that the development interventions should be improved by the government in order to boost agricultural productivity and ensure food security as a means of reducing poverty among rural women since farming is their major occupation.

Keywords: Development interventions, women, awareness and participation.

How to Cite this Article

Author(s) retain the copyright of this article. Author(s) agree that this article remain permanently open access under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 International License.


Select Language »