Socio-Economic Factors Affecting the Performance of Women in Food Production (Published)
Women grow a substantial amount of food eaten by families, yet they still have less access to knowledge, technology, credit and land than men. Despite these data, there is still lack of sufficient data and information particularly on specific states in Nigeria. The objectives of the study were to identify the socioeconomic characteristics of women farmers in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State and to determine the relationship between those socio-economic characteristics and food production. Six villages were purposively selected. Eighty percent of the women were randomly selected in each of the villages. Two hundred women were selected and administered with a structured questionnaire. Descriptive Statistics, correlation and Regression Analysis were used to analyze results. The results show that the respondents are still active, mean age was 40. Thirty five percent have no formal education at all, sixty nine percent were members of cooperative,fifty four percent had no (mining, sixty three percent had extension contacts. Wealth status mean (mean N45,856) amount of food produced (mean N27,000), income mean (N21,378) amount of credit received (mean N75.856). Correlation results revealed income (r=0.6708), inputs (r=0.3646), farm size (r-0.2797), wealth status (r=0.2475) and training (r=0.2256) have positive and strong relationships with food production. Results of stepwise analysis indicated income contributed 39%, training 3% farm size 2%, costs of inputs 2% and wealth status 2% to food production at 5% level of significance. The null hypothesis there is no significant relationship between socioeconomic characteristics of women and food production was therefore rejected and the alternative hypothesis accepted. On the bass of these findings, it is recommended that women should be empowered through the provision of loans. The amount should be substantial and the loans disbursed on time. The
interest rate and cost of insurance charged should be low. There is also the need to improve upon the level of education of the women and also to train them on additional source of income generation.
Keywords: Food Production, Level Of Education, Socio-Economics, Women