Contribution of Agro-Based Entrepreneurial Activities Towards Women Empowerment in Jere Local Government Area of Borno State, Nigeria.

Abstract

The study examined the contribution of agro-based entrepreneurial activities to women empowerment in Jere local government area of Borno State, Nigeria. A total of 84 questionnaires were administered to respondents who were randomly selected to participate in the study. The data obtained were analyzed using frequency, percentage and inferential statistics (regression analysis). The result of the logit regression analysis indicated that education, membership of association, household size and access to credit of respondents has significantly (p<0.01) affected respondents’ participation in agro-business activities. Descriptive statistics shows that majority (52.4%) of the respondents were within the age bracket of 31-40 years old. Some proportion (53.6%) of the respondents had secondary school education, most (85.7%) had agro-food processing as their main occupation. Majority (95.2%) indicate that agro-based entrepreneurial activities empower them through employment (employer of labor). This encourages them to become agro-based entrepreneurs. The study revealed that the most prevailing constraint to effective operation of agro-based entrepreneurial activities is lack of capital (mean score=4.7). Based on the findings, it was concluded that agro-based entrepreneurial activities are pivotal to the national poverty eradication and by providing the largest proportion of the job employment to women in rural areas. Therefore, it was recommended that agro-based entrepreneurial skill acquisition programme be put in place to build the capacity of women in the activities and credit be provided to them by government and other stakeholders to boost their capital base.

Keywords: Agro-based enterprises; Women Empowerment; Jere; Borno.