ABSTRACT
Rising hunger and food crisis are among today’s major threats to human survival and wellbeing globally. This situation has been a source of worry to governments, development experts and researchers. In the struggle to win this “war of the belly” attention has been directed to rural communities where more than eighty percent (80%) of world’s foods are produced. Rural women have been found to be the catalyst in the fight against hunger. In spite their roles in agricultural production, several factors pose serious challenges to the success of these women as food producers, especially, at the subsistence level.
This study is on the Socio-cultural Factors Affecting Subsistence Agriculture among
Rural Women: A Study of Bende L G A, Abia State. The study adopted cross-sectional survey research design. Simple random multi-stage sampling method was used to select a total of five hundred and ten (510) respondents to whom questionnaires were distributed to generate quantitative data for the study. Focus Group Discussion (FGD) and In-depth Interview (IDI) were also employed to generate qualitative data.
Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the quantitative data using Statistical Package
for Social Sciences (SPSS), while qualitative data were manually analysed. Three hypotheses were proposed and tested with chi-square (x2) at 0.05 level of significance.The results showed that women were the major food producers, with their rate of participation in agriculture higher than that of men in all the communities studied. Lack ofaccess to land was one of the major challenges women in Bende LGA faced in agricultural production. Though there were cultural restrictions on women regarding access to land, that didnot pose serious problems to them like lack of finance and bad roads.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
Hunger is on the increase among nations of the world. Food crisis is hurting the poor all over the world, hitting the landless and women the hardest (Karl, 2009). About 800 million people go hungry each day, globally (Canadian International Development Agency, 2003). Currently, this figure has increased to 925 million (Food and Agricultural Organization, 2010). This situation is expected to worsen if extreme measures are not taken (International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) as cited in FAO, 2010). In Nigeria, recent estimates put the number of people that go hungry each day at over 53 million (Ajayeoba, 2010). One of the challenges confronting the global community today is how to feed the 6.6 billion inhabitants of the world. Ogbonna and Okoroafor (2004); Nabinta, Kushawha, Yahaya and Olajide (2007) contend that one of the greatest challenges facing the world, with particular focus on Africa, is to find solution to the problem of hunger and poverty. This concern is reflected in the first of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which is, to reduce by half, the proportion of people living in extreme poverty and hunger by the year 2015 (Todaro and Smith, 2009:24).
However, empirical evidence has shown that rural women, most of whom are subsistence farmers, are crucial in the fight against hunger and rural poverty. Globally, more than 30% of the female workforce is engaged in agriculture, while in regions like sub-Saharan Africa and SouthAsia, more than 60% of all female employment is in this sector (International Labour Organization (ILO), 2009). According to Prakash (2003), women’s contribution to agricultural production and household food security cannot be overemphasized. They feed the world. He also noted that on the global scale, women produce more than half of all the food that is grown.
In Sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean, they produce up to 80% of basic foodstuffs. In Asia, they provide from 50% to 90% of the labour for rice cultivation. And in South-east Asia and the Pacific as well as Latin America, women’s home-gardens represent some of the most complex agricultural systems known. In countries in transition, the percentage of rural women working in agriculture ranges from about a third in Bosnia and Herzegovina to more than a half in Poland. In his findings, Morvaridi, as cited in Akpinar, Talay, Celylan, and Gunduz (2003) recorded that in Turkey, women’s contribution to agriculture is immense. All over Turkey, 74% of employed women work in the agricultural sector, constituting 53.8% of the total labour force.
Majority of these rural women engage in subsistence farming. According to Kisamba- Mugerwa (2001), subsistence agriculture still dominates the working lives of more than half of world’s women. Ugwu (2009) observed that women produce up to 60% of the food consumed in the developing countries through subsistence agriculture. According to Mijindadi (1993), women are responsible for 70% of actual farm work and constitute up to 60% of the farming population in Nigeria. Also Youssef (1995) noted that the predominant occupation of rural women, especially Igbo women of South Eastern Nigeria, is agriculture. According to him, these women are associated with traditional subsistence agriculture.
In spite of their role in household food security and agricultural production, rural women face a number of constraints that affect their agricultural production, especially at the subsistencelevel. Some of the constraints arise from misguided development policies and programmes, and others are rooted in cultural, religious, and social institutions. As highlighted by Butt, Hassan, Mehmood and Muhammed (2010); Nazarpour and Rezaei (2011), rural women face a number of constraints in their agricultural activities. These constraints can take different forms ranging from lack of access to credit, lack of information, illiteracy, lack of access to land, non availability of agricultural extension services, lack of time resulting from their engagement in normal domestic works, to male domination and lack of recognition for their contributions in agricultural development and food production. Generally, rural women face more difficulty than men do. They often spend long hours collecting firewood and carrying it back home over long distances. The time and labour expended this way exhaust them and limit their ability to engage in other productive and income-generating activities (agriculture inclusive). Their health suffers from hauling heavy loads of firewood and water and from cooking over smoky fires.
Communities in Bende L.G.A. are basically rural and agriculture engages the labour of the greater proportion of the inhabitants. Farming in any of the communities that make up the Local Government Area is characterized by cultural norms, beliefs and traditions, which influence gender division of labour, both in terms of crops and tasks. Ownership and accessibility of factors of production such as land and extension services are influenced by cultural norms and beliefs. Farmers here produce mostly food crops for household subsistence, even though some of their products are sold at the local markets for income. Some crops like cassava, maize, melon, cocoyam, vegetables, etc are culturally believed to be women’s crops, while yam, the “king” of all crops is believed to be men’s crop (Ezumah and Di Domenico,1995). Although men and women in Bende L.G.A. are mostly farmers, women do most of the
farm work, starting from planting to harvesting seasons. Based on the foregoing, a study of this nature is deemed appropriate.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
In Nigeria, the potentials of rural women in agricultural production and food security have not been maximized. In spite of the acclaimed tremendous contributions of women in agriculture, total annual food productivity in Nigeria is pitiably poor and much below expectation (Bamire and Tijiani, 1999). Kolawole and Ojo (2007) also reported that the rate of growth of Nigeria’s food production is 2.5% per annum in recent years, while food demand has been growing at the rate of more than 3.5% per annum due to high rate of population growth of 2.83%. In spite of the rural women’s contribution in subsistence agricultural production in Bende L.G.A., they hardly produce enough food to feed their households. Hunger and extreme poverty define the daily lives of many households in all the communities in Bende L.G.A. Several factors constrain subsistence agriculture among rural women in Bende Local Government Area. Some of these factors are socio-cultural and they operate as inhibitors on the women’s agricultural out- put. However, the nature and extent of socio-cultural barriers that impact negatively on rural women’s agricultural out-put here is unknown, hence this study becomes necessary. In addition to this is the fact that there is also dearth of research on subsistence agriculture among rural women in Bende L.G.A; hence this study tends to fill that gap.
Ownership and inheritance of land in Bende Local Government Area is gender biased (men exclusively enjoy inheritance right to land). Culturally, women in this part of Nigeria can only enjoy usury rights to land either as daughters or as wives. However, whether they will enjoy this right or not depends on the whims and caprices of the men who are either their fathers or husbands. And in most cases these women are denied this right due to gender discrimination.
As a result, these women have to pay huge sums of money to men- owners to access land for their agricultural activities. The problem is that many of them cannot afford this. According to Oladeebo (2008), the problem facing Nigerian women over land is that women do not have control and clear access to land. This situation, no doubt, is a major obstacle to production capacity of these women in particular and to rural development in general.
Lack of recognition for rural women’s contributions to food production which results in misdirected policies and programmes is also a constraint on these women. This is noted by Matthews- Njoku, Adesope and Iruba (2009); Afra and Siyar (2011). According to them, women play an indispensable role in farming and in improving the quality of life in rural areas. However, their contributions often remain concealed owing to some social barriers and gender biases. Even government programmes often fail to focus on women in agriculture. Development agencies have continued to focus their programmes on men, erroneously believing them to be the producers of food crops. Apart from bush clearing which is usually done by men, women play major roles in agricultural production all through the season. Planting, weeding and carrying such crops like yam home during harvesting are usually done by women. Even, some women heads of household who cannot afford to hire men’s labour for the clearing of bush still do the clearing themselves. But at the end of the day, men alone are recognized as farmers and women
as farmers’ wives. This misconception has resulted in many misconceived and misdirected agricultural programmes by the government and other development agencies. Other factors that negatively affect agricultural participation and output of rural women are cultural values and beliefs. According to Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) (2001); Butt, Hassan, Mehmood and Muhammed (2010); Sadaf, Jadey and Luqman (2005), cultural norms, male dominance, traditional belief system are the major constraints faced by rural women. The authors reported that these factors prevent the women from accessing extension services. In Northern Nigeria, women in Purdah are excluded from participating in any activity outside the home and this affects their participation in agricultural activities, except in the area of food processing and preparation.
The problem is that with all these barriers on their way, the capacity of these rural women to ensure food security for their households is highly jeopardized. Prakash (2003) contends that women may feed the world today, but, given these formidable obstacles placed in their path, will they be able to produce the additional food needed for a world population expected to grow by 3 billion in 2030? No doubt, the answer to this question is no. This poses a great danger to the world community. This is because hunger is associated with other social problems which the world is frantically battling to contend with today, including prostitution, child trafficking, armed robbery, HIV/AIDS, child abuse and child mortality. Based on the forgoing, interest in this area of study becomes apparent.
1.3 Research Questions
Informed by the above background, this study will be guided by the following research questions:
1 What are the roles of women in agricultural production in Bende Local Government
Area?
2 What are the cultural factors affecting subsistence agriculture among rural women in
Bende L. G. A?
3 What are the implications of educational attainment on agricultural production of women in Bende L.G.A.?
4 What are the consequences of domestic chores on women’s agricultural production in
Bende L.G.A?
5 What has Bende Local Government done in assisting rural women in their agricultural activities?
6 What are the most useful ways to assist rural women in their subsistence agriculture?
1.4 Objectives of the Study
This study has both general and specific objectives. The general objective of the study is to examine the socio-cultural factors affecting subsistence agriculture among rural women in Bende Local Government Area of Abia State. The study also has the following specific objectives:
1 To identify the roles of women in agricultural production in Bende Local Government
Area.
2 To find out the cultural factors affecting subsistence agriculture among rural women in
Bende L.G.A.
3 To examine the implications of educational attainment on agricultural production of women in Bende L.G.A.
4 To examine the consequences of domestic chores on women’s agricultural production in
Bende L.G.A.
5 To ascertain what Bende Local Government has done in assisting rural women in their agricultural activities.
6 To find out the most useful ways to assist rural women in their subsistence agriculture.
1.5 Significance of the Study
This study is of both practical and theoretical significance. Practically, the study will be of immense value to both the government and other development agencies. The findings can serve as inputs in policy formulation, programme planning and implementation with regard to rural development in general and subsistence agriculture in particular. Rural women in Bende Local Government Area will also benefit from the study as the result may attract government intervention to eliminate negative cultural practices that impede rural women’s agricultural activities. By examining the socio-cultural factors affecting subsistence agriculture among rural women, the society will appreciate better the need to re-evaluate and probably discard any socio- cultural elements that affect these women negatively. This, no doubt, will enhance their agricultural productivity and ensure household food security.
Theoretically, this study will contribute to sociological knowledge in general and rural development in particular. The work will serve as basis for further researches in this area.
Researchers whose interests are in gender relations will also find this study a valuable secondary source for their studies.
1.6 Operational Definition of Concepts
The following concepts are operationalized:
Cultural factors: They are variables arising from people’s culture. These are beliefs, norms, traditions, taboo, behaviour, etc. For instance, in a given society, it can be believed that it is a taboo for a woman to clear bush for farming or farm certain crops.
Cultural Restrictions: As used in this study, these are beliefs, norms, and taboos, traditions that bar women from owning or having access to land for agricultural purposes.
Educational Attainment: This is the level of education a person has attained. It includes non formal education, primary school, secondary school and tertiary education.
Food crisis: Food crisis means when there is no adequate and nutritious food supply to meet the food needs of all the people, resulting in hunger and high prices of food. Food demand exceeds food supply.
Food security: Food security means when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food (FAO, 2010).
Household Food Security: This is when all people in the household, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food.
Household: This refers to a number of people who may be related by blood or not, but who live in the same house and feed from the same pot. In a polygynous home each of the wives with her child (ren) and husband can form a separate household.
Hunger: Hunger means when a person fails to obtain nourishment as a result of non availability of or inadequate food.
Purdah: This is a Muslim religious ethic that does not permit married women to go outside the home during the day. This is to limit their interactions with men who are not members of the family.
Rural women: These are women who live in the rural, as against, urban community and whose major occupation is agriculture
Social factors: These are conditions arising from people’s statuses and social roles in their relations to other members of society or family. For instance, being literate or non-literate, a man or woman are statuses which may influence ones social roles and access or lack of access to valued resources like land.Subsistence agriculture: This is agricultural production of crops meant for household consumption, though some may still be sold at the local market. The sizes of the farms are usually smaller compared to farms for commercial agriculture.
This material content is developed to serve as a GUIDE for students to conduct academic research
SOCIO-CULTURAL FACTORS AFFECTING SUBSISTENCE AGRICULTURE AMONG RURAL WOMEN A STUDY OF BENDE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA ABIA STATE
A1Project Hub Support Team Are Always (24/7) Online To Help You With Your Project
Chat Us on WhatsApp » 09063590000
DO YOU NEED CLARIFICATION? CALL OUR HELP DESK:
09063590000 (Country Code: +234)
YOU CAN REACH OUR SUPPORT TEAM VIA MAIL: [email protected]
09063590000 (Country Code: +234)
