Assessment of Rural Women’s Engagement in Livelihood Activities in Oyo State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study assessed rural women’s engagement in livelihood activities in Ogbomoso Agricultural Development Programme (ADP) Zone of Oyo State, Nigeria. A three-stage sampling procedure was used to select 120 rural women for the study. Structured interview schedule was used to elicit information on respondents’ socioeconomic characteristics, extent of engagement in livelihood activities and constraints to engaging in livelihood activities. Results reveal that majority (61.7%) of the respondents indicated moderate level of engagement in livelihood activities; crop cultivation (x̅=1.57) ranked 1st of all the on-farm livelihood activities, marketing of farm produce
(x̅=1.49) ranked 1st of all the off-farm livelihood activities and trading (x̅=1.72) ranked 1st of all the non-farm livelihood activities. Low wages/poor condition of works (x̅ =3.58) ranked 1st of all the constraints. There was significant association between primary occupation (χ2=22.007), access to extension services (χ2=10.518), monthly income (χ2=18.866) and engagement in livelihood activities. The study concluded that rural women were moderately engaged in farming, trading, and marketing, with participation influenced by primary occupation, income, and access to extension services, while low wages and poor working conditions were key constraints. The study recommended that government and NGOs implement policies and programs to boost rural women’s livelihood engagement by addressing constraints like low wages, improving extension services, skills training, market access, and cooperative support.