TABLE OF CONTENT
Title page-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- i
Declaration page-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ii
Approval page-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- iii
Dedication-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- iv
Acknowledgement-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- v
Table of contents-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- vi
List of tables---- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Abstract-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- viii
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 Introduction-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 1
1.2 Background of the Study-- -- -- -- -- -- -- 1
1.2 Women and Agricultural Development---- -- -- -- -- 3
1.3 Problem Statement-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 4
1.4 Objective of the Study-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 5
1.5 Justification of the Study-- -- -- -- -- -- -- 6
CHAPTER TWO
2.0 Literature Review and Theoretical Framework-- -- -- -- -- 7
2.1 Role of Agriculture in the Nigeria Economy-- -- -- -- -- 7
2.2 Roles of Women in Agriculture---- -- -- -- -- -- 8
2.3 Constraints to Participation of Women in Agriculture-- -- -- -- 11
2.4 Measures for Enhancing Women’s Participation in Agriculture-- -- 13
2.5 Review of Empirical Studies-- -- -- -- -- -- -- 20
CHAPTER THREE
3.0 Methodology-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 23
3.1 The Study Area-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 23
3.2 Sampling Size and Sampling Technique-- -- -- -- -- 23
3.3 Data Collection-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 24
3.4 Method of Data Analysis-- -- -- -- -- -- -- 24
CHAPTER FOUR
4.0 Results and Discussion-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 26
4.1 Socio-economic Characteristics of Respondents-- -- -- -- 26
4.2 Crop Production Activities Engaged by Women Crop Farmers-- -- 31
4.3 Factors Affecting Participation in Crop Production Activities-- -- -- 31
4.4 Constraints to Women Farmers involved in Crop Production-- -- -- 35
CHAPTER FIVE
5.0 Summary, Conclusion and Conclusion-- -- -- -- -- -- 37
5.1 Summary-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 37
5.2 Conclusion-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 39
5.3 Recommendation-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 39
REFERENCES-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 40-44
ABSTRACT
The study assessed women participation in crop production activities in Lafia Local Government Area of Nasarawa State Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling technique and a total sample size of 100 respondents were used for this study. Data were analyzed using simple descriptive linear regression analysis. Results of the study showed that majority (54.0%) of the respondents were between the ages of 21-30 years. The mean age was 27.0 years. Findings from the study revealed that majority (95.0%) of the women engaged in crop production were married. Results on the farming experience of the respondents revealed that majority (62.0%) of the women had farming experience above 20 years. The mean farming experience was approximately 11 years. It was further revealed from the study that majority (84.0%) of the women engaged in crop production in the study area do not own the land which they cultivate. Data on source of labour revealed that larger proportion (43%) of the respondents depended on both their families and hired labour as their source of labour. In addition, data on the access to credit institutions by respondents in the study area revealed that majority (88%) had no extension contact. Data on the crop production activities engaged by women in the study area showed that almost all the women in the study area were actively involved in the various crop production activities with the majority (68%) being harvesting of crop produce. The results of the regression analysis of the factors affecting women engaged in cop production activities in the study area indicated a coefficient of multiple determination of 0.544 The result of the regression analysis further shows that household size, educational status, membership of cooperative society, farming experience, extension visit, and access to credit had positive relation with the level of women participation in crop production activities in the study area. Invariably, the age and marital status had negative relation with the level of women participation in crop production activities in the study area. However, household size, extension visit and membership of cooperative association were significant at 5% level of significant, educational status, farming experience and access to credit were significant at 10% while only the age of the respondents were significant at 1% level of significant. Results of the crop production problems as identified by the respondents and they include, inadequate capital, lack of ownership of land, pest and diseases, lack of storage facilities, poor marketing outlets, inadequate input like fertilizer and inaccessibility to extension staff. The result shows that 87% of the respondents identified inadequate capital as a major challenge to their production activities.