The Role of Women Participation in Rural Development in Nigeria (a Case Study of Etsako West Local Government, Area Edo State)

ABSTRACT This study examined “the role of Women Participation in Rural Development (A Case Study of Etsako West Local Government, Auchi, Edo State)” Women participation in Rural Development has been generally less than encouraging despite their numerical strength in the global world. Rural women’s involvement in development has been the focus of intensive debates at most national and international forums in the past years. Data for the study were gotten from the primary and secondary source and A sample size of 92 was drawn from the entire population using simple random sampling techniques. Also, hypotheses were formulated and tested using the chi-square. The findings reveal that there is a yawning gap in the level of involvement of male and female gender in the development of the Nigerian society especially in the political economy of the country. It concluded that the less involvement of the female folk has contributed in no small measure to the backwardness of the country despite the enormous resources with which the country is endowed. The study recommended that government in partnership with Rural Development partners should not only encourage the women to be proactive in grassroots politics, progammes and projects, they should provide modern farm implements such as tractors, planters, harvesters etc to the rural women farmers and also educate them on how to use these implements to enhance their production since the lives of millions of Nigerians depend heavily on proceeds from agriculture.