ABSTRACT
The study evaluated performance of community-based women organizations (CBWOs) in rural development projects in Imo and Rivers States. Specifically, the objectives were to: describe the socio-economic characteristics of CBWOs, determine the rural development roles expected and performed by CBWOs, assess the levels of perception of women on the performance of CBWOs in rural development projects, ascertain their levels of participation in rural development projects and determine the sustainability strategies adopted/levels of sustainability of rural development projects by CBWOs in Imo and Rivers States. The result of selected socio-economic characteristics shows that community-based women organizations had mean years of existence, 21.1 (Imo) and 28.9 (Rivers); CBWOs were all involved (100%) in infrastructural social services as against 66.6% (Imo) and 71.7% (Rivers) who were into non-infrastructural social services, while the majority (90.8% and 65%) were engaged in crop production in Imo and Rivers States respectively and 90.6% of the members identified various projects by themselves. The CBWOs played active roles (82%) in rural developmental projects. The respondents had favourable perception ( =3.1) and ( =3.4) of rural development projects in Imo and Rivers State respectively. Result also revealed that the CBWOs had high participation in rural development projects in Imo ( =2.4) and Rivers ( =2.2), with a sustainability index of 70%. The pooled regression results showed that coefficients of age (0.393***), membership size (-0.249***), membership of other organization (0.112*), access to credit (0.241***), Income (0.650***) and funds generated (0.102**) influenced role performance of CBWOs. Linear regression results also showed that coefficient of age (19161.1***), mode of project identification (28920.5***), access to credit (337774.2***), membership size (877.537*), benefits (573.902***) and types of social services (186618.5**), influenced participation of CBWOs in rural development projects at different levels of probability. The multiple regression result showed that coefficient of age (0.071*) membership size (0.016***), membership of other organization (8.878***), number of meetings (-0.088), internally sourced resource (-8.106***) and funds generated (-0.000), influenced sustainability of rural development projects in Imo and Rivers States. Z-test results revealed no significant difference on role performance of CBWOs in both states at 5% level; also there is significant difference in participation of CBWOs in rural development projects at 5% levels of probability in both states and no significance difference in the sustainability strategies of rural development projects executed by CBWOs in Imo and Rivers State at 5% levels of probability. In conclusion, CBWOs have made some remarkable success in the development of the study area, which has resulted to active participation of women, and on the overall, 82% of their active roles were on agricultural and development projects, indicating high performance when compared with their expected roles. The study recommends that CBWOs should embark on regular awareness campaign among their members on the importance of implementing viable rural development projects. They should also embark on people-oriented and sustainable activities that ensure utilization of locally sourced resources to improve the well-being of their members and the development of their communities.
TABLE
OF CONTENTS
Title Page i
Declaration ii
Certification iii
Dedication iv
Acknowledgements v
Table of Contents vii
List of Tables xii
List of Figures xiii
List of Appendix xiv
Abstract xv
CHAPTER
1: INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 Background of Study 1
1.2 Problem Statement 7
1.3 Objectives of Study 11
1.4 Hypotheses 12
1.5 Justification of The Study 13
1.6 Scope of the Study 14
1.7 Limitations of the Study 14
1.8 Definitions of Terms 15
CHAPTER
2: LITERATURE REVIEW 17
2.1 Conceptual Review 18
2.1.1 Socio-economic characteristics of
community-based
women organizations (CBWO’s) in
Rural
Development
Projects 18
2.1.2 Concept of rurality and characteristics 21
2.1.3 Concept of rural communities 26
2.1.4 Concept of development 28
2.1.5. Processes of rural development 32
2.1.6 Concept of community development 37
2.1.7 Government past efforts in community
development in Nigeria 40
2.1.8 Government agricultural and rural
Development interventions programmes in Nigeria 42
2.1.9 Agriculture and development 54
2.1.10 Challenges
of agriculture and rural development
in
Nigeria 58
2.1.11 Organizations; types and funding 61
2.1.12 CBWO’s and physical development in Nigeria 62
2.1.13 Sustainable community development 66
2.1.14 Women organizations and Involvement
in community development 68
2.1.5 Factors
hampering women involvement in rural
development
projects 72
2.2 Review of empirical studies 74
2.3 Theoretical framework 76
2.3.1 Jack Rothman’s three model’s approach 77
2.3.2 Maslow’s hierarchy of needs 79
2.3.3 Structural functional approach 82
2.3.4 The socialist theory 83
2.3.5 System theory 84
2.3.6 Community action model 86
2.3.7 Evaluation model 87
2.3.8 Infrastructural development model 90
2.3.8.1 Benefits of the model 91
2.3.8.2 The Problems of the model 92
2.4 Conceptual framework 93
CHAPTER
3: METHODOLOGY
3.1 Study Area 96
3.2 Population of the Study 98
3.3 Sample and Sampling Procedure 98
3.4 Data Collection 99
3.5 Validity of Instrument 100
3.6 Reliability of the instrument 100
3.7 Data analysis 100
3.8 Measurement of variables 101
3.8.1. Independent variables 102
3.8.2. Dependent variables 104
3.9 Model Specifications 104
CHAPTER
4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 108
4.1 Socio-Economic Characteristics of (CBWOs) 108
4.2 Rural Development Roles expected and
performed
By (CBWO’s) 115
4.3 Levels of perception of (CBWO’s) in Rural
Development
Projects in Imo and Rivers States 118
4.3.1.
Levels of perception of (CBWO’s) on
performance of rural development projects in Imo State 118
4.3.2.
Levels of perception of (CBWO’s) on
performance of rural development projects in Rivers State 118
4.4 Levels
of Participation of (CBWO’s) in Rural Development
Projects
in Imo and Rivers States 122
4.4.1. Levels
of participation of (CBWO’s) in rural development
Projects
in Imo State 122
4.4.2. Levels
of participation of (CBWO’s) in rural development
projects
in Rivers State 124
4.5 Sustainability
Strategies Adopted by (CBWO’s)
on
Rural Development Projects 126
4.51.
Sustainability
of rural development projects among
community-based women
organizations 129
4.6 Factors
Influencing Role Performance of (CBWO’s)
in Rural Development Projects in Imo
and Rivers States 130
4.7.a. Factors
influencing levels of participation of (CBWO’s)
in rural development projects in Imo
States 135
4.7.b. Factors
influencing levels of participation of (CBWO’s)
in rural development projects in
Rivers States 137
4.7.c. Results of pooled regression 140
4.8 Factors Influencing Sustainability of
Rural Development
Projects in Imo and Rivers States 143
4.9 Analysis
of the difference in Role Perception of Levels
of Participation of Community-Based Women Organizations in Rural Development
Projects 147
4.10: Analysis
of the difference in Levels of Participation of
Community-
Based Women Organizations in Rural
Development Projects 148
4.11: Analysis of the
difference in Levels of Participation of Community-Based Women Organizations in
Rural Development Projects
149
CHAPTER
5: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Summary 150
5.2 Conclusion 155
5.3 Recommendations 155
References 157
Appendices 174
LIST OF TABLES
4.1a: Socio-economic characteristics of
community-based women organizations 109
4.1b:
Socio-economic characteristics of
community-based women organizations 114
4.2:
Rural development roles performed by
community based
women
organizations 117
4.5a:
Sustainability strategies adopted by
community-based
women
organizations on rural development projects 128
4.5b:
Sustainability of rural development
projects among
community – based women organizations
(n = 240) 129
4.6: Factors influencing role performance of (CBWO’s)
in rural
development projects in the Imo and Rivers State 131
4.7: Linear
regression result of factors influencing
participation
of (CBWO’s) in rural development
projects 142
4.8:
Factors Affecting the Sustainability
of Agricultural and Rural Development
Projects Executed by (CBWO’s)
in Study Areas 146
4.9:
Difference in role performance of (CBWO’s)
in rural
development
projects in Imo and Rivers States 147
4.10:
Difference between the levels of
participation of (CBWO’s)
in
rural development projects in Imo and Rivers States 148
4.11:
Z-Test difference in the sustainability
strategies of
rural and agricultural development
projects executed by (CBWO’s)
in Imo and Rivers States 149
LIST OF FIGURES
1: Perception
of community-based women organization’s
on
performance of rural development projects in Imo State 119
2: Perception
of community-based women organization on the
performance
of rural development projects in Rivers State 121
3: Participation
of community-based women organizations
in rural
development projects in Imo State 124
4: Participation
of community-based women organizations
in rural
development projects in Rivers State 126
LIST
OF APPENDIX
1: Research Questionnaire 190
CHAPTER
1
INTRODUCTION
1.1
BACKGROUND
OF THE STUDY
Rural
communities have been commonly identified in many works as the most neglected
areas in developing nations (Oko, 2010, Nwaobiala, 2015). Over the years, the
quest for accelerated improvement of the rural areas and improvement in the
quality of life of the rural dwellers has remained an issue of great concern to
the government (Oko, 2010; Nwosu, 2013). The improvement of the worth of lifecycle
of the rural dwellers brings change/transformation which metamorphoses to
development.
In the past, between the period of 1930 –
1960, development was seen as an economic phenomenon (increase in a Nation’s
Gross National Product (GNP)). According
to Onwuka (2008), development is a complex and continuous process which
manifests itself in improved quality of life, cultural regeneration, social
homogeneity and cohesion, political awareness and the stabilization and
consolidation of participatory political institutions. Oko (2010) defined it as a social process
that seeks to improve, or reflects improvement in the worth of lifecycle of a
people. Alternatively, rural development
is seen as a practice of empowering the rural people by harnessing and mobilizing
their human and physical wealth for the purpose of converting their environment
for the better, and providing their socio-economic needs ranging from
employment, qualitative health-care,
improved nutrition, adequate and comfortable accommodation, good quality
education to adequate security (Nwaobiala, 2015).
According
to Ekong (2003), Nigeria, like most developing countries, has periodic
development plans or annual budget which spells out development programmes to
be accomplished within a specific period where agricultural development features
prominently. Nwosu (2011) described agricultural development as one dimension
of the multi-faceted complex process of development that aims at enhancing the
productive capacity of the agrarian area through the change of the rural
economy from being a rustic, subsistence agricultural economy to a modern
commercialized agricultural enterprise.
The author further stated that agricultural growth aims at sustaining a
vibrant and dynamic rural economy, as well as guaranteeing local food
sufficiency and other products for export.
Ekong (2003) also described agricultural development as a logical
response to the challenging problems of the rapidly changing global
environment, especially those of climatic change, growth of the populace and
amassed poverty conditions. Bill and
Metinda (2011) observed that in the last several years, the global community
has begun to refocus its attention on agriculture. The reason is that rising food prices and
anxieties about nurturing a growing population are stimulating more and more
organizations and government to understand the earnestness of supporting
agricultural growth.
Food
and Agricultural Organization (FAO) (2003) estimates show that women in
agriculture in most regions of the world play important roles in household food
security as revenue recipients, nurturers and administrators of natural
resources and biodiversity, although the rate at which they are able to execute these roles is
often mitigated by restricted access to land, labor, capital and technology.
However, food, safety and domestic well-being are clear motives for protecting
or enhancing women’s access and control over land and other productive
resources. In addition, research has shown that wealth controlled by women is more
likely to be used to enhance family food consumption and welfare, reduce child
malnutrition, and increase overall well-being of the family. Adzongo (2008)
reported that in the past, women farmers were wrongly referred to as “farm
laborers” or just “housewives”. This signifies that their contributions were
not adequately measured. But today, this perceived role is changing. Women are active in all facets of
development, especially in food crop production. Their contribution is best captured in this
quotation; who farms Africa? Who feeds Africa? Who raises her sons and
daughters? Who has the least access to the tools of development? (Adzongo,
2008)
According
to the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO, 2003), rural women are
responsible for half of the world’s food production and have a conspicuous role
in agriculture at all levels. They
produce between 60 and 80 percent of the food in the developing countries and
are also the main producers of the world’s staple crops- rice, and wheat, maize
– which provide up to 90 percent of the rural poor’s food intake. In addition, they are essential for
guaranteeing food security and household maintenance not only for their
families, but also for their communities in general.
In
support of the above assertion, Anikpo (2000) stated that women are known to be
more committed in agricultural activities than men in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA),
Nigeria inclusive. As much as 73% were
involved in cash crops, arable and vegetable gardening, while post-harvest
activities had 16% and agro-forestry, 15%.
Also, findings from a study financed by the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) revealed that women make-up 60 - 80% of agricultural labor
force in Nigeria, depending on the region, and they produce two-thirds of food
crops. In spite of this, general notion
that men, and not women, make the key farm management decisions has prevailed
(World Bank, 2003).
Ogunlela
and Mukhtar (2009), have also identified a number of obstacles to women
participation in agricultural activities. They noted that systematic gender
biases may exist in the form of (a) customs, beliefs and outlooks that restrain
women mostly to the home sphere; (b) women’s economic and home responsibilities
that impose severe time burdens on them and (c) laws and customs that inhibit
women’s access to credit, production inputs, employment, education or medical
care. Moreover, a careful examination indicates that there is a definite need
of sensitivity on the social and cultural barriers that may inhibit women’s
participation in agricultural activities.
Kotze (2003) suggested that in an effort to reach and engage the women,
we must recognize that some issues and constraints related to participation are
gender -specific and points to the fact that men and women play different
roles, have different needs and face different challenges on a number of issues
and at different levels. Therefore, we
cannot assume that women will automatically benefit from efforts involving
rural people in project design and implementation. Overtime, it has
been discovered that unless specific steps are taken to ensure that women
participate and benefit, they usually do not.
FAO
(2008) observed that women seem to have a wider social network because of their
engagement in religious, cultural, agricultural and social activities which are
community-based. Similarly, Ogolo (1995)
affirms that community participation in development programmes could be
facilitated by the use of voluntary organizations such as women
organizations. These organizations have
been reported by Odurukwe (2003) to be religious-based, service-based or
socio-cultural based. In addition,
Okeibunor (1995) asserts that women organizations are more effective and play
very significant roles in the actualization of the community felt needs. The author further explained that women
organizations are forums where women talk about their problems and concerns;
communal work activities; organize for financial assistance and seek
interventions in areas of need. These
organizations are avenues of empowerment when effectively explored and it
extends development to women in the rural areas. It also serves as enlightenment for education
on issues that boost gender participation.
In
IFAD – assisted projects, women earned higher status, respect and
decision-making power as a result of their participation in groups or
co-operatives. Furthermore, women groups
are often the most cohesive and best performing community-level
organizations. Participation in groups
increases women’s participation in overall community development
activities. To promote long-term
sustainability, an increasing number of projects place the promotion of women’s
groups in a broader community development perspective. The aim is not just to interact with groups
as conducts for project resources, but to help them evolve into viable,
self-sustaining community organizations (International Fund for Agricultural Development,
2015).
World
Bank (2003) avers that mixed groups of men and women has been found to work in
Kenya and Uganda. In most situations,
however, women – only groups are the best option. Initially at least, they allow women to gain
greater confidence and autonomy. Research has shown that women have less
influence than men in mixed groups. However, confining women’s participation to
women-only groups can prolong women’s marginalization. Again, familiar and small homogenous groups
have proved to effective channels for involving women. Alternatively, reaching women through village
leadership structures or existing community-based organizations has proved to
be less-effective due to the unequal influence of men and women within those
organizations. United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) (2013) reported that women are mobilized into
grassroots associations for effective participation in key areas of the economy
such as women in Mining, Women in Tourism trust, Women in Agriculture and
various women groups. Therefore,
Community- Based Organizations (CBOs), according to Wikipedia, are all such
organization, institutions or congregation of people, which have local
area/village-based presence, maturity and structural arrangements.
In the same vein, they are civil society,
non-profits, often run on a voluntary basis and are self–funded. Some are
formally incorporated, with a written constitution and a Board of Directors,
while others are much smaller and informal.
Typical
community-based organizations fall into the following categories: community
service and action, health, educational, personal growth and improvement,
social welfare and self-help for the disadvantage. In developed countries,
community-based organizations are a fundamental part of government’s human
service delivery system, where the government relies, contracts and partners
with the CBO’s to provide a broad range of services to its citizenries. Amateur
sports clubs, school groups, church groups, youth groups and community support
groups are typical examples of community-based organizations in Canada.
Similarly, in Sub-Saharan Africa, community-based organizations often focus on
community support, including HIV/AIDS awareness, human rights, health clinics,
orphan support, water and sanitation provision, and economic issues (Chesnutt,
2006).
In
Nigeria, Ogunlela and Mukhtar (2009) observed that various women groups and
organizations have emerged. Such groups
and organizations have contributed substantially to the gains women farmers
have recorded and the voice that they now have in overall national policy on
agricultural development. Example of
such group is the Women Farmers Advancement Network (WOFAN), a private
imitative founded in the 1990s, whose headquarters is in Kano, Nigeria. The main thrusts of WOFAN include: providing
a forum through which members of rural Nigeria communities can express
themselves, encouraging the formation of community groups to garner access to
agricultural credit and insurance, facilities and introducing labor-saving
technologies, including modern farm implements and the use of solar
energy. In addition, WOFAN initially
helped women farmers in rural areas with issues of health and agricultural
technology. It has since inevitably
expanded to address other needs.
Menefee,
(2006), reported that caring for the poor in our local communities has been and
will continue to be an issue all communities must face. Philanthropic and non-profit organizations
play major roles in providing services to destitute and poor individuals in the
United States.
1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT
The
bedrock of agriculture and agricultural development in developing countries of
Sub Saharan Africa without which all efforts at agricultural development will
be futile (Ogunlela and Mukhtar, 2009) is rural development. A large majority
of the farmers operate at the subsistence, smallholder level, with intensive
agriculture being uncommon. A
characteristic feature of the agricultural production system in such countries,
Nigeria inclusive, is that a disproportionately large fraction of the
agricultural output was in the hands of these smallholder farmers whose average
holding is about 1-0-3.0 hectares (CTA, 2000). The diminishing capacity of
agriculture to provide for household subsistence increased the workload
shouldered by women as men withdrew their labor from agriculture. Hence, the increased attention that is being
given to the role of small holder subsistence agriculture in ensuring food
security of the continent, since some 73% of the rural population consists of
small-holder farmers (IFAD, 1993).
Evidently, development, food security and poverty alleviation will not
be truly achieved without rapid agricultural growth.
Rahman
(2008) avers that the rural women played a pivotal role that is crucial to the
overall success of efforts directed at agricultural and rural development. In addition, the position and capability of
women meeting the challenges of agricultural and rural development cannot be
overemphasized. They shoulder the
primary responsibility for food security in Africa, yet development agencies
have devoted minimal resources to researching the impact of their agricultural
policies and new techniques on the well-being of Africa’s women farmers.
Franklin (2007) opined that gender inequality is one of the most pervasive
forms of inequality, particularly because it cuts across other forms of
inequality. Different rules, norms and
values govern the gender division of labor and the gender distribution of
resources, responsibilities, agency and power.
These are critical elements for understanding the nature of gender
inequality to different societies. For
example, in Sub-Saharan Africa, gender segmentation in household arrangement is
prevalent in the face of highly complex linage-based homesteads.
Similarly,
much of Sub-Saharan Africa is matrilineal, with women’s access to land being
(through usufruct rights) through their husband’s lineage group. In other countries, despite legislative and
tenure changes in favor of smallholders, women continued to be placed in a
disadvantaged position in terms of access to land. In a recent study, where nine countries were
examined, Franklin (2007) found that while women are present in greater degrees
in agricultural / rural organizations, they tend to comprise a low proportion
of the membership and are often not represented in the higher level of
leadership. Again, women’s membership is most often limited by their lack of
formal land ownership, while many rural organizations do not sufficiently
concern themselves with the needs of rural women. As observed by ASIADHRRA
(2007), women from Asian countries have limited access to rural
organizations. Though, there may not be
laws prohibiting women from becoming members, they are generally excluded
because membership is based on land ownership or “head of household”
criterion. Irrespective of these
challenges facing women organizations, there is a growing recognition of their
indispensable roles both in international, national and local levels. However, they are not able to unleash their
full potentials due to various constraints.
There is therefore, need to investigate factors which influence their
limited participation in agricultural and rural development in their
communities.
It
has been empirically established that multinational companies and local
government contribute to grassroots development, but the contribution of
Community Based Organizations (CBOs) seem not to have attracted much scholarly
attention. This neglect if continued will make the communities lose
contribution of CBO in grassroots development. In satisfying community needs,
CBOs play prominent role in initiating programmes and project, mobilizing
resources and educating the grassroot populace (Onyeozu, 2007). Traditionally,
most donor organizations work only with Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)
with legal status and which are able to produce project proposals to plan
properly, and to handle budget administration and produce financial and
technical reports regularly. Unfortunately, most grassroots NGOs in developing
countries do not comply with these requirements and therefore cannot benefits
from donor funds. Moreover, inconsistency, first between vision and concrete
development activities, with stakeholders; secondly, between the chosen
activities, the organizational structure and the principles of participation
and empowerment also affect the performance of NGO. Fowler, (2000) added that
in most cases, NGO staff, supporters and the outside world get confused,
actions do not combine and support each other in optimal ways, there is a loss
of focus and energies become dissipated. Other problems include the issue of
project replicability and their innovativeness with characteristic scaling up
which often leads to loss of advantages of smallness and group cohesion (Riddle
and Robinson, 2006). Given the above scenario the concern on the performance of
NGO in rural development becomes pertinent.
Ekong
(2003) observed that communities exist in rural as well as in urban areas, but
the community spirit is more enduring and meaningful in rural areas. In other words, community development entails
community organization as the consciousness of a community which has to be established
among a people before they can be organized for development. Moreover, Fakoya et al., (2001) affirmed that ‘individual members’ participation in
community development projects of CBOs is a type of development strategy that
is more sustainable and more likely to respond to the felt needs of the
people. The level of sustainability of
rural development projects of CBOs in the study area has not been ascertained
by previous studies. These have affected effective implementation of self-help
development projects in the communities where governmental aids are limited or
not forthcoming. Odurukwe, (2007);
Franklin, (2007) conducted several studies, to ascertain women participation in
rural development in their various communities, it seems however there is
dearth of information on the levels of participation of CBWOs in rural
development projects in the study area. Based on these issues raised, this
study was conducted to evaluate the performance of community-based women organizations
in rural development projects in Imo and Rivers State of Nigeria.
Thus,
this research was guided by the following questions:
i.
What are the
socio-economic characteristics of CBWOs?
ii.
What are the roles
expected and performed by CBWOs in rural development projects?
iii.
What are the levels of
perception of women on the performance of CBWOs in rural development projects?
iv.
What are the levels of participation
of CBWOs in rural development projects?
v.
What are the
sustainability strategies of rural development projects by CBWOs?
1.3
OBJECTIVES
OF THE STUDY
The
broad objective of the study was to evaluate the performance of community –
based women organizations (CBWOs) in rural development projects in Imo and
Rivers States.
The specific objectives
of this study were to:
i.
describe the
socio-economic characteristics of CBWOs;
ii.
determine the rural
development roles expected and performed by community-based women
organizations;
iii.
assess the levels of
perception of women on the performance of the Community
- Based Organizations in Rural Development projects;
iv.
ascertain the levels of
participation of CBWOs in rural development projects;
and
v.
determine the
sustainability strategies adopted/levels of sustainability of rural development
projects by CBWOs
1.4
HYPOTHESES
OF THE STUDY
The
following hypotheses were tested:
Ho1:
There is no significant relationship between selected socio-economic
characteristics of respondents and their role performance in rural development
projects in Imo and Rivers States.
Ho2:
There is no significant relationship between selected socio-economic
characteristics of respondents and their participation in rural development
projects in Imo and Rivers States.
Ho3:
There is no significant relationship between selected socio-economic
characteristics of respondents and sustainability of rural development projects
in Imo and Rivers States.
Ho4:
There is no significant difference between role performance of CBWOs in rural
development projects in Imo and Rivers States.
Ho5:
There is no significant difference between participation of CBWOs in rural development
projects in Imo and Rivers States.
Ho6:
There is no significant difference in the sustainability strategies of rural
and agricultural development projects executed by CBWOs in Imo and Rivers
State.
1.5
JUSTIFICATION
OF THE STUDY
Across
the developing world, studies show that women’s participation in community
initiatives can have long-lasting benefits for women and children (World-Bank,
2003). In addition, women who are
empowered to take action, whether through programmes led by government, non-governmental
organizations or those driven by the community, often have a positive influence
on the lives of other women. Sinba (2011) observed that rural women all over
are an integral and vital force in the development processes they are the key
to socio-economic progress. Hence,
without their effective participation neither democracy nor development can be
sustained. Furthermore, where
development projects fail to involve women, this increases their dependence on
men and is a major deficiency in planning and implementation of projects.
Klemens (2000) group the many roles women involved in rural organizations play
into three, based on the basic functions they perform for their
organizations. These include the role of
representation and liaison, of undertaking various activities and providing
services to the organization. Similarly,
this study will encourage the formation of viable women organizations to
undertake group activities and as well provide services geared towards
agricultural and rural development of their communities.
Furthermore,
the result of this study will facilitate women participation in development
programmes and invariably aid the actualization of community felt needs where
government assistance are limited or not forthcoming. In addition, the study will provide institutional means of integrating the
smallholder sector, especially women, into the national economy, resulting to
poverty alleviation, and total eradication of mal-nutrition. It will definitely contribute to knowledge by
expanding supportive literature on women organizations in agricultural and
rural development in the rural communities.
The
findings of this study will also add to the already existing knowledge on the
contributions of women involved in community-based women organizations to rural
and agricultural development. The
measurement of some variables in this study will help researchers and students
intending to conduct related studies on possible ways of quantifying qualitative
and quantitative variables.
1.6 SCOPE
OF THE STUDY
The study was conducted in Imo and Rivers States. The
major emphasis of the study is on the evaluation of the performance of
community – based women organizations (CBWOS) in rural development projects.
While there are several community based organizations, the researcher
concentrated on the women-based organizations, investigating their performance
in rural development projects based on the stated objectives.
1.7 LIMITATIONS
OF THE STUDY
Some factors served as constraints to the study. There
were so many registered community-based Women Organizations with the government
in the study area but many were not practically in existence.
While in some communities, the existing organizations
are either not involved or partially involved in rural development projects,
and apparently they have little or no project on ground.
Again, there is scarcely useful information/records
about the existing organizations with the government at all levels, that the
researcher relied on the responses derivable from the interview and
questionnaire.
1.8 DEFINITION
OF TERMS
Performance:
Is the accomplishment of a given task
measured against preset known as standards of accuracy, completeness,
cost, and speed.
Evaluation: Is
the periodic assessment and review of the extent to which medium and long term
objectives of an activity or programme have been accomplished. It could also
mean a critical assessment or the surveillance of the project to its
appropriateness, acceptability and impact.
Community: A
social group of any size whose members resides in a specific locality, share
government and often have a common cultural and historical heritage.
Community – Based
Organizations (CBO’S): CBWOs are all such
organization, Institutions or congregation of people, which have local
area/village-based presence, maturity and structural arrangements. These are
owned and managed by members.
Rural Development:
This involves the transformation of rural
communities into a socially, educationally, economically, politically, orderly
and materially desirable condition with the purpose of improving the quality of
life of the rural population.
Sustainable
Community Development: Sustainable community
development is often referred to as “green development”, “green real estate
development”, “green communities”, or “sustainable built environment”,
“sustainable communities”, “sustainable real estate development” and “healthy communities”. A sustainable community
uses its resources to meet current needs while ensuring that adequate resources
are available for future generations.
Development: This
can be conceptualized as a process by which any group of people or society
harness, mobilize and utilize all resources available to it, both human and materials for the purpose of transforming their
socio-physical environment, for the ultimate improvement in the quality of life
of its members (Nwosu, 2009).
Sustainability: It
focuses on meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of
future generations to meet their needs. It also implies the ability to maintain
or support an activity or process over the long term.
Sustainability requires that human activity only uses
nature’s resources at a rate at which they can be replenished naturally.
Project: Simply
put a project is a series of tasks that need to be completed in order to reach
a specific outcome. Projects can range from simple to complex and can be
managed by one person or a hundred. And a project is unique in that it is not a
routine operation, but a specific set of operations designed to accomplish a
singular goal.
Women
Organizations: is an association of women who have
come together for their own interest and that of their community. The number
keeps increasing by day as women identify new issues. Different women
organizations play different active roles in their various community such as
supporting women advocacy, which assists in improving respect for and the
protection of women human rights and elimination of discrimination, which in
turn is necessary to achieve full quality between men and women.
Login To Comment