Constraints to rural women participation in government rural community development programme in Rivers State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study assessed the constraints to rural women participation in government rural community development activities in Rivers State,  Nigeria. Multistage sampling procedure was used to select 360 rural women for the study. Data from respondents were obtained through  questionnaire administration and interview schedule, while data analysis was carried out using frequency counts, means,  percentage, Varimax Rotated Factor Analysis and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Major constraints to rural women participation in  government rural community development programmes include as socio-economic constraints (factor 1), lack of essential needs and  facilities (factor 2), leadership factors (factor 3), political factors (factor 4), resource needs (factor 5), health factors (factor 6), nature of  programmes (factor 7) and security factor (factor 8). Main strategies suggested by the rural women to help improve their participation in  government rural community development programmes include ensuring that women have access to productive resources such as land  (M = 3.97), conducting skill acquisition training programmes (M = 3.94), depoliticizing development programmes (M = 3.31) and formation  of active women groups (M = 3.29).There was no significant difference in the challenges faced by rural women across the  three agricultural zones in the state, in participating in government rural community development programmes. The study recommends  that State and local governments should assist rural women to advance their social political and economic conditions as to enable them  access production channels and resources, and thus become more involved in development projects.