Constraints to Rural Women Farmers’ Involvement in Food Production in Nigeria

Abstract

The study aimed at identifying the problems rural Nigerian women farmers encounter in food production and the solutions. The sample comprised of 3,500 persons from Edo, Lagos, Ogun, Osun, Ondo, Delta, Oyo, Enugu and Anambra States of Nigeria. Questionnaires were used for data collection. Percentages, means and standard deviations were used for the data analysis. Findings indicated that the major problems encountered by the rural women farmers in Nigeria were poverty, illiteracy, lack of storage facilities, poor health status and poor yield. Some of the solutions identified were to give the rural women farmers adult education; teach them effective methods of food processing, preservation and storage, and the use of modern farm tools. It
was recommended among others that the government should encourage more rural women to engage in food production.