ABSTRACT
The main aim of the study was
to analyze women labour utilization in crop production in Abia State. The
specific objectives included (i) identify specific farming operations that
utilize women labour in the study area; (ii) compare the relative contribution
of women and men to total labour utilization in different levels of farm
operation in the study area; (iii) identify factors that affect the
participation of women in different levels of farm operations; (iv) determine
the effect of women labour utilization on the value of farm output ; and (v)
identify and analyze the constraints facing women farmers in crop production in
the study area. Using multi-stage sampling technique, the study area was zoned
into three using the existing zoning arrangement of the Abia State Agricultural
Development Programme (ADP). Nine (9) rural Local Government Areas (LGA) were
randomly selected from the Zones. From the LGAs, 18 communities were randomly
selected and from the communities, 36 villages were randomly selected. From
these villages, 108 households having women farmers were randomly selected. A
set of structured questionnaire was administered on the relevant women and men
farmers in the household to obtain required information. Data were analyzed
using descriptive statistics, multiple regression analysis, t-test, likert
rating scale and multinomial logit model. Results showed that among twelve crop
production operations identified in 2010 farming season, greater proportion of
all the operations were executed by the women farmers e.g. harvesting 70%,
planting 63%, weeding 60% and transplanting 58%. The men and hired labour were
used for tedious operations like ridging and bush clearing. The multinomial
logit result showed that the participation of women belonging to large families
were less in clearing and cultivation. Their level of income had a negative
relationship with clearing. The multiple regression analysis showed that
greater number of variables like age, farm experience and household size were
significant and have positive effect on output at 5 % level of
significance. The multiple regression analysis showed that the value of
Coefficient of determination otherwise known as R-square (R2) was
0.67. Despite the high level of participation of women farmers in crop production,
they still face unique constraints which adversely affected their ability to
increase food production. The identified problems included lack of finance,
lack of improved inputs, lack of storage facilities among others. Poor
implementation of agricultural projects and policies, lack of government
commitment and intervention programmes not directed to the farmers needs were
the major reasons why previous intervention measures did not achieve much
success. The study therefore recommended that adequate finance should be
provided by government to support women labour requirements. Government should
ensure implementation of agricultural programmes by monitoring and evaluating
them from the beginning to the end by independent consultants. The problem of illiteracy
among rural women can be overcome if extension services extend their training
to the rural women.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND
INFORMATION
Nigeria at the moment is
witnessing an upward trend in the price of foodstuffs partly due to the
inability of production to keep pace with increase in demand. Demand itself
increases largely as a result of increase in population. The resulting effect
of this imbalance between demand for and supply of food is malnutrition,
poverty and deteriorating living conditions (Nnadozie and Ibe, 2000). This is
mainly because agriculture is being neglected and, sometimes, down played in
development strategies.
Agriculture is one of the main
pillars of the Nigerian economy because it plays many roles. It is a major
source of food to the population, it provides employment for over 70 to 80
percent of the population and it is the only thriving economic activity in
rural areas. It contributes foreign exchange as well as a source of industrial
raw materials for the nation’s industries (Amanze, 2000).
However, with the oil boom in
the seventies, there was a sharp decline in agricultural production as people’s
attention was diverted from agriculture to the oil sector of the economy. The
“oil boom” also rendered many indigenous land owners landless and, in some
cases, a reduction in the hectare farmed. There was rural-urban movement
because of lack of social amenities in the rural areas. Many able bodied men
moved to the urban centres in search of white-collar jobs because of the income
disparity and availability of amenities in the urban areas. Women and their
children were left behind to carry on agricultural production activities which
resulted in many household economic activities championed by women. This
situation placed on them the responsibility of taking decisions on issues on
the farm (Lily, Feidman and Shert., 2001).
Attempts to restore agriculture
to its former glory, national efforts to boost the production of food and cash
crops have been made through a number of agricultural programmes like National
Accelerated Food Production Programme (NAFPP), Operation Feed the Nation (OFN),
Green Revolution Programmes, Go Back to Land, Directorate for Food, Roads and
Rural Infrastructure (DFRRI) etc. Despite these efforts the problem of food
shortage continues. Food production strategies so far tried, appeared to have
achieved limited success. One of the remote causes of the apparent failure was
inability to develop and utilize the nation’s manpower resources effectively
and efficiently especially in the rural sector (Okunade, 1998).
The involvement of women in
agriculture has attracted greater attention in recent years because women play
very significant roles in Nigeria’s agricultural production, processing and
utilization (Nnadozie and Ibe, 2000). Millions of women work as farmers, farm
workers and resources managers (Olayide et al, 1990). In doing so, they
contribute to national agricultural output, maintenance of environment and
family food security (Brown et al., 2001). They dominate in
almost all phases of food production such as production of food crops
like maize, cassava, vegetables and yam. They have also undertaken the rearing
of small farm animals and execution of certain intricate farm operations
(Oluwesola 1998). Not only do women play significant roles in food production,
they are now also mastering those aspects of agriculture that used to belong
exclusively to men. For instance, women help with the strenuous jobs of cutting
trees and clearing bushes (Onyibe, 2001). Nnoyelu and Gadzane (1991), revealed
that women were found working all the year round producing food crops while men
performed only pre-planting tasks that occupy small parts of the agricultural
year.
While men specialized in
certain tasks like clearing bush or forest, cultivation, felling or pruning
trees, ploughing or tiling the land, women, have been estimated to do 70
percent of hoeing and weeding, 60 percent of harvesting, 80 percent of
transporting crops home and 90 percent of food processing (Steady, 2001). As
men’s participation in agriculture declines, the role of women in agricultural
production increases. In Mozambique, for example, for every 100 men working in
agriculture there are now 153 women (Saito, 1994).
Though traditionally, women do
not have land of their own, they do their farming on family plots and in any
available piece of land no matter how small. Women contribute in areas of food
preparation, processing and marketing. The involvement of women in agricultural
food production has no limits. Through increased participation in agriculture,
women have influenced family decisions on what to produce, how to produce, the
sale of small food surpluses to meet their needs and labour-supply. Therefore,
their involvement in agriculture is without doubt (Oluwasola, 1998).
It is obvious that women are
very active in food production. More emphatically, women are the backbone of
African agriculture and Nigeria in particular. In the olden days, when
agriculture was almost the only available profession, men used to marry as many
wives as possible to assist in farm work. Throughout the world, women
constitute a greater part of the work force especially in the rural areas
(Ufiem 2000).
Women are, to a large extent
the backbone of Africa rural economics (Adetenwa, 1998) and they play specific
roles in the production and processing of food. Having seen that women’s effort
cannot be neglected, the World Bank funded two consultancies in Nigeria to......
================================================================
Item Type: Ph.D Material | Attribute: 107 pages | Chapters: 1-5
Format: MS Word | Price: N3,000 | Delivery: Within 30Mins.
================================================================
No comments:
Post a Comment