Abstract
The study was aimed at assessing the extent of the contributions of women’s associations to rural development in Nsukka and Obollo-Afor Education Zones of Enugu State. To guide the study, four research questions were formulated with the intention of ascertaining the extent of women’s associations to the educational, economic, socio-cultural and political development of rural communities in Nsukka and Obollo-Afor Education Zones of Enugu State. Also, three null hypotheses were tested at .05 level of significance and used to guide the study. Descriptive survey research design was used. The population of the study was 1,354 members of women’s associations in Nsukka and Obollo-Afor Education Zones from where a sample of 987 was drawn using simple random sampling technique. The instrument used for the study was a 28-item self-designed questionnaire called Assessment of the Contributions of Women’s Associations to Rural Development Questionnaire (ACOWRUDEQ). The instrument was face validated by three experts and its reliability was ensured using Cronbach alpha estimate. Reliability co-efficient of .94 was obtained. Weighted mean and standard deviation were used in analyzing the collected data. Copies of the instrument were administered to the respondents through direct delivery technique. Findings of the study revealed that women’s associations contribute to a high extent on the educational, economic, socio-cultural and political development of rural communities. The three null hypotheses were rejected showing that there were significant differences between the mean ratings of illiterate and literate members of women’s associations on the extent to which women’s associations contribute to the educational, economic, socio-cultural and political development of rural communities in Nsukka and Obollo-Afor Education Zones of Enugu State. Based on the findings of the study, recommendations were proffered which included that Enugu State Government should actively involve more women in developmental programmes and projects that concern them, and that state government and local government councils should make functional literacy programmes available for women as an effective strategy towards empowerment. Finally, suggestions for further research were made.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
The contributions of women in advancing development have been widely acknowledged. UNESCO (2005) noted that African women form an indispensable part of human resources for development. Without their contributions, African countries cannot be expected to be maintained at the present low level not to talk of any development progress arising thereof. Women play active role in development. According to ljere (1992), women form the backbone of rural development. They are found in agriculture and even outside it. In the household, they hold an unassailable pre-eminence tending to the children and even the husbands. Lending credence to the above, Odo, Onyishi and Aha (2007) stated that women throughout the world are strong and active contributors to the development of the societies. They engage in considerable work outside their homes although this is rarely recognized in national statistics. They went further to state that the degree in disorganization and chaos that occurs when they are absent in their house confirm the extent of their importance.
In the society, women are cleaners of rural roads, the regular visitors to the weekly market, the impartial arbitrators in family or clan disputes and disagreement, and the preservers of age-old customs of yam festivals, child birth, marriage feast and water collection. It follows therefore that any programme of rural transformation that ignores the women does so at its own risk. This is because women have been principal actors in pre- and post-harvest food process as producers, processors, preservers, conservers, preparers and traders in food crops (Ekejiuba, 1991 ).
In political and social spheres, women have occupied leadership roles on many occasions in many communities. According to Ekejiuba (1996), two women figured prominently in the early history of the Hausa communities. The first of these was Queen
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Dauranana who ruled the Daura State at the time of last series of invasion that led to the emergence of the seven Hausa states. Another woman of note in Hausa political tradition was Queen Amina of Zaria. She was a figure whose history is perhaps not in doubt. Afigbo in Odo, et al (2007) stated that the same example can be taken from Igboland. Women were often represented in the council of elders by their most distinguished, most matured and most gifted leaders. In the elders’ council, the women leaders were listened to with respect and taken seriously into account when decisions were being reached. According to Onwuasoanya (2002), the women group called Umuada are highly respected, petted and regarded with awe and respect. It is their duty to react against anything that disturbs the orderly nature of Igbo cultural life, particularly, when things are no longer normal and when the law of the land is violated.
The more educated women’s views and contributions are respected and followed especially in community affairs. This assertion is supported by Kiratz (2001) who revealed that the higher the educational level of women, the higher their contributions to national development. Better educated population is likely to foster national development through changes that can be expected in the nature of political participation. Women’s education is known to be associated with political emancipation. United Nations (1999) noted that when women are educated, they are able to know and claim their rights to vote and be voted for. They are also considered as having a sense of solidarity in the execution of projects.
In the economic sphere, women’s economic development strengthens the incentives for more equal resources and participation. United Nations Development Programme, UNDP (2005) revealed that when women’s income increases, there is reduction in power and gender inequality. Women contribute towards economic development by increasing the availability and quality of public services such as health clinics and schools, and reducing the cost of investment in human capital for the household. The work, economic and social contributions
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of women according to Okoli (2012) can be found in two broad areas: the community and within the household. In a community, the economic production base determines the work or labour of rural women in the various segments of production. Women actively contribute to food production in most countries, thus improving social linkages and kinship relationships and facilitating resource exchange in times of need.
In the household, the traditional gender role ideology founded on culture and religious tenets determines the participation of rural women in household production. Generally, women are the primary care-givers and domestic workers within the household at every stage of the life cycle, and this responsibility of care-giving is expanded to serve the needs of the community too. Okoli (2012) also noted that the contributions made by women within the household encouraged them to cross customary gender role boundaries and to participate in the economy outside the household, often in farm production and sometimes in off-farm production.
It is based on the enormous contributions of women towards rural development that the General Assembly of the United Nations declared October 16 as the World Rural Women’s Day (Okoli, 2012). It is done in recognition of the critical roles and contributions of women including rural women in enhancing agricultural and rural development, improving food security and eradicating rural poverty. Therefore, Ogidefa (2010) stated that rural development involves the creation and widening of opportunities for (rural) individuals to realize their full potentials through education and share in decisions and actions which affect their lives. It also involves efforts to increase rural output and create employment opportunities and root out fundamental (or extreme) cases of poverty, diseases and ignorance. Supporting the above assertion, Obetta and Okide (2011) stated that rural development is the integrated approach to food production as well as physical, social and institutional infrastructural provisions with an ultimate goal of bringing about both quantitative and
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qualitative changes which results in improved living standard of the rural population. In Nigeria, Ekpo and Olaniyi (1995) affirmed that the lives of more than two-third of the country’s population that live in an estimated 97,000 rural communities, are characterized by misery, poverty, morbidity and under-development. Hence, it has been recognized that the rural areas and people living there are characterized by general poverty, low income and investment, underutilized and/or unutilized natural resources, rapidly increasing population and under-employment and/or unemployment. Others are low productivity, especially of labour, use of low and traditional technology, limited enterprise or entrepreneurship, high level of illiteracy, ignorance, disease and malnutrition, near absence of social and physical infrastructure, political powerlessness and gullibility (Lele & Adu-Nyako, 1991). In this study, rural development refers to the process of improving the per capita income of the rural dwellers and their quality of lives so as to enable them become prime movers in the society in which they belong.
Therefore, the full engagement of both women and men in construction of a new social order is a step towards achieving sustainable rural development (Bahai International Community, 2012). Gajanayake and Gajonayake (1993) asserted that the current challenge facing rural development activities is to search for bottom-top approach involving human• centred development strategies that emphasize active participation of the people at the grassroots level. Guided by the above bottom-top approach, Nigerian government made various attempts in the past towards rural development. These were noticeable through the introduction of different programmes such as River Basin Development Authority (RBDA), Directorate for Food, Roads and Rural Infrastructure (DFRRI), among others. In all these programmes, rural development was used as a strategy for modernizing the society. For instance, the declared aim of River Basin Development Authority was to make the nation self-sufficient in food production and to uplift the socio-economic standard of the people
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living in both urban and rural communities. Accordingly, Otoghagua (1999) reported that governm ent in the Third National Development Plan provided huge sum of money to develop the main rivers of the country to benefit agriculture and the development of comm unities. However, the activities of the authority showed that the development philosophy was still the top-down approach as development of comm unities was not a serious issue in the objectives of the authority.
On the various development programm es employed by governm ent functionaries, Ogidefa (2010) stated that there was lack of total community participation. The people showed lack of interest and unwillingness in community development activities as governm ent functionaries regard them as being incapable of identifying, planning and implementing comm unity development projects. Also, on lack of grassroots planning, there is little or no attempt to allow the communities to identify the problems and goals, analyze their own needs and commit themselves to the achievement of the project target. The planners do not consult even the co-operatives and the interest groups such as the women groups. There is also problem of appointing new leaders even where such leaders already exist, and not making use of age grades and women’s groups in the initiation and implementation of rural development projects. Obetta (2009) cited an instance with Etteh Community of lgbo-Eze North Local Governm ent Area of Enugu State where bore-hole that supplies water to the greater part of the comm unity could not function adequately until it was handed over to a community-based women group to manage. The women group exhibited proficiency in accountability and maintenance culture. Ezugwu (2009) also affirmed that sustainable rural development aims at empowering the rural people through participatory and community• oriented development that is woven around local principles, skills and technologies, and to protect the environm ent by generating and facilitating appropriate resource management
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systems. Therefore, the contributions of women organizations in the development of communities cannot be over-emphasized.
Women organizations have focus on environment, education, food and nutrition, agriculture, women issues and communication. They also perform activities on advocacy which is directed at changing either the political agenda or in promoting human rights and responsibilities. Therefore, the women organizations act as agents of political and socio-cultural development. They promote unity and cordial relationship which are necessary ingredients of social and economic development (Olowu, Ayo & Akande,
1991 ). In the same vein, Okeibunor (1995) emphasized that women organizations provide manual labour when there are community projects.
The objectives of women organizations are to involve all their members in the community projects, to bring out social change, to base the community development projects on the philosophy of self-help by as many members as possible and to be concerned with task goal and progress goal of community development. Based on these objectives, women organizations select projects that meet the time that is most required. Most often, their projects are small and easy to manage and implement.
The fundamental contributions of women organizations in the development of communities are the establishment of income-generating projects for communities, reduction in unemployment rate in rural areas and promotion of self-reliance. Amucheazi (1991) described self-reliance as complete independence from and absence of external dealings and connections. The main emphasis is on the development of the people, helping them to live more satisfying lives, not just providing material benefits. Other contributions of women organizations include promoting active participation of women in developmental activities, developing leadership spirit and ability to protect the interests of women in social, religious, cultural activities (Okeibunor, 1995).
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In Nsukka and Obollo-Afor Education Zones of Enugu State, there are 155 rural communities spread in the six local government areas of the zones (Eze, 2010). However, the creation of Enugu State in 1991 spurred the formation of several organizations in the communities that make up the two zones. Prominent among the organizations are the women organizations. According to Obetta (2012), these organizations addressed the issues of primary health care, rural water supply and sanitation, leadership development, rural credits, eradication of illiteracy, agricultural projects, rural electrification projects, rural feeder-road and maintenance projects, and income-generation projects.
This implies that the capability of the women organizations can be evaluated by their contributions to rural development, especially in the areas of educational, economic, socio• cultural and political development. There is therefore the need to determine the extent to which these women organizations have educationally, economically, socio-culturally and politically developed rural communities in Nsukka and Obollo-Afor Education Zones of Enugu State. It is against this background that the researcher intends to carry out this study.
Statement of the Problem
Generally, over the years, women in Nsukka and Obollo-Afor Education Zones of Enugu State have been discriminated against by their male counterparts in the areas of education, economy, socio-cultural, politics and labour force. As a result, men fail to appreciate the importance of women’s contributions in the society. This terrible marginalization of women by men led to the coming together of these women to form community-based women associations (Obetta, 2004). The associations pooled the efforts of the various women together to help in developing the places where they live.
The formation of the various community-based women associations has brought tremendous changes in the communities within the senatorial zone. Many of the women have enrolled in education programmes. Through this, many of them are now self-reliant, and have
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obtained certificates for better jobs. They now fight against some obnoxious traditions, which are harmful such as female circumcision, high bride price, early/child-marriage, widowhood practice, among others. They are also involved in settling family disputes and promotion of women’s participation in politics. The formation of such associations have led the women folk to more employm ent opportunities, improvement of their incomes, provision of small• scale industries and formation of co-operative societies.
Furthermore, it seems that the lots of effort that community-based women associations put into the development of rural communities are not commensurate with the outcome. Also, their contributions to the development of rural communities educationally, economically, socio-culturally and politically are still in doubt in some communities. Without detailed assessment of its effectiveness, it is difficult to justify the contributions of community-based women associations in the development of rural comm unities in the two zones. Hence, it is not possible to state the extent to which the various comm unity-based women associations have contributed to the development of rural communities in Nsukka and Obollo-Afor Education Zones of Enugu State.
Therefore, the problem of the study posed as a question is: to what extent have community-based women associations contributed educationally, economically, socio• culturally and politically to the development of rural communities in Nsukka and Obollo• Afor Education Zones ofEnugu State.
Purpose of the Study
The main purpose of the study is to assess the extent to which the women’s associations have contributed to the development of rural communities in Nsukka and Obollo-Afor Education Zones of Enugu State. Specifically, the study sought to:
1. find out the extent to which women’s associations have contributed educationally to the development of rural communities in Nsukka and Obollo-Afor Education Zones.
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2. ascertain the extent to which women’s associations have contributed economically to the development of rural communities in Nsukka and Obollo-Afor Education Zones.
3. identify the extent to which women’s associations have contributed socio-culturally to the development of rural communities in Nsukka and Obollo-Afor Education Zones.
4. ascertain the extent to which women’s associations have contributed politically to the
development of rural communities in Nsukka and Obollo-Afor Education Zones.
Significance of the Study
The findings of this research will be significant in a number of ways. It will provide multi-purpose information to different users including Enugu State Commission for Women Affairs, the three tiers of government, members of community-based women associations, professionals, students and organizations, donor agencies, policy planners and academicians.
The Enugu State Commission for Women Affairs will benefit from the findings of the study as it will enable them to mount effective women empowerment programmes in the various communities for the benefit of the women in particular, and for the benefit of the generality of the people in the state.
The three tiers of government will also benefit from the findings of this study. The findings will enable the government to acquire a variety of supportive functions to various women’s associations thereby shifting from being implementers to being facilitators of community development projects. The findings will also create awareness on the part of the government on the need for training the members of women’s associations on the planning, financing, implementation and maintenance of community development projects. Also, the findings will help the government in the proper dissemination of information and offering of technical and managerial assistance to members of women’s associations on matters pertaining to adequate planning and implementation of community development projects.
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The founders, organizers, mobilizers and members of women’s associations will find this work very useful as a working document. It would enable them to accelerate women’s full participation in economic, political and socio-cultural activities by ensuring gender mainstreaming in all government policies, plans and programmes.
Also, professionals, academicians, students and organizations wishing to extend further research in the area of women’s role in rural development will use this piece of work as reference material. It will also serve as a guide or handbook for professionals and students in the area of community development.
Policy planners will also find the findings of this study very useful. It will enable the experts in policy planning to formulate policies in community development that will steer the interest of women in being actively involved in community projects’ development. It will also enable them to rise up to the challenges of investigating, at the grassroots level, how to improve on the political, economic, educational, health and agricultural development policy, planning and implementation in community development in Enugu State.
Scope of the Study
The study focused on the contributions of women’s associations to the development of rural communities in Nsukka and Obollo-Afor Education Zones ofEnugu State. The study was restricted to only the registered women’s associations in the six local government areas in Nsukka and Obollo-Afor Education Zones ofEnugu State.
The study also focused on the extent to which the women’s associations have contributed to the development of rural communities educationally, economically, socio• culturally and politically in Nsukka and Obollo-Afor Education Zones of Enugu State.
Research Questions
The following Research Questions were posed to guide the study:
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1. | To what extent have women’s associations contributed educationally to development of rural communities in Nsukka and Obollo-Afor Education Zones? | the |
2. | To what extent have women’s associations contributed economically to | the |
3. | development of rural communities in Nsukka and Obollo-Afor Education Zones? To what extent have women’s associations contributed socio-culturally to | the |
development of rural communities in Nsukka and Obollo-Afor Education Zones? |
4. To what extent have women’s associations contributed politically to the development of rural comm unities in Nsukka and Obollo-Afor Education Zones?
Hypotheses
The following null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance:
H0: There is no significant difference in the mean ratings of illiterate and literate members of women’s associations on the extent to which women’s associations have contributed educationally to the development of rural communities in Nsukka and Obollo-Afor Education Zones.
H0: There is no significant difference in the mean ratings of illiterate and literate members of women’s associations on the extent to which women’s associations have contributed economically to the development of rural communities in Nsukka and Obollo-Afor Education Zones.
H0,: There is no significant difference in the mean ratings of illiterate and literate members of women’s associations on the extent to which women’s associations have contributed socio-culturally to the development of rural communities in Nsukka and Obollo-Afor Education Zones.
This material content is developed to serve as a GUIDE for students to conduct academic research
ASSESSMENT OF THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF WOMEN’S ASSOCIATIONS TO RURAL DEVELOPMENT IN NSUKKA AND OBOLLO-AFOR EDUCATION ZONES OF ENUGU STATE>
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