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·??????? Strategies for development of women agro-entrepreneurs.



Strategies for Women Agro-Entrepreneurship Development
3)????????? Technology
There are neither policies nor strategies for entrepreneurship development that is specifically tailored to women (Olutunla, 2008). The Nigerian government’s policy of promoting entrepreneurship dated back to the early 1970s. The hope of promoting small scale enterprises to stimulate entrepreneurship was documented in the 2nd National Development Plan (1970-74). This policy continued in the 3rd (1975-80) and the 4th National Development Plan through various strategies of technical, financial and management of the small scale industries. The Federal Government’s concern for the menacing problem of mass unemployment in the mid-1980s spurred the setting up of the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) in 1986 and the Work For Yourself Programme (WFYP) in 1987. Both were essentially joint programmes of training and financial support to entrepreneurs. The NDE operations included three core programmes (i) Youth Employment and Vocational Skills Development Program (YEVSDP) (ii) agricultural programs (iii) the small scale industries and graduate employment scheme. The NDE, though starved of fund for some time, has achieved a lot in promoting employment, create wealth and alleviating women poverty. The Better Life for Rural Women Programme (BLRWP) initiative of a first lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Maryam Babangida, was an entrepreneurship development programme specifically for promoting education, health and economic development of women. It made unprecedented contribution to women through the cooperative organizations. The spirit of BLRWP is still operating today through the subsequent first ladies. A number of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) also came up to promote entrepreneurship development. Prominent amongst them was the Country Women Association of Nigeria (COWAN) which contributed immensely towards women entrepreneurship development through organization of many cooperatives and micro-credit schemes and in partnership with the United Nations. ????????????
Suleiman, A.S. (2006): The Business Entrepreneur; Entrepreneurial Development, Small and Medium Enterprises, 2nd Edition, Entrepreneurship Academy Publishing, Kaduna.


of Availability of Productive Assets to Women in Agricultural Development. Unpublished Paper. 14p.


·??????? The Government should mandate the commercial Banks to produce more gender-friendly loan packages (low interest rates and more relaxed duration of repayment).
Ogbimi G. E. and and Williams S. B. (1999): Gender Sensitivity and Marginalized Group: Assessment
Kiyosaki, T.R. (1993):If you want to be Rich and Happy, Don’t Go to School (Fair field: Aslan publishing)


External finance is majorly from banks (specialized, development, commercial, etc), government agencies, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), international donors, etc. Entrepreneurs are expected to provide, in some cases, 25% of fund applied for and/or produce collaterals before accessing these external finances. It has been difficult for women to raise equity for own business because most women interested or engaged in farming earn low income. Many of the commercial or development banks are reluctant to grant agricultural loans due generally to the high agricultural risk factor or because they do not have competent assessors as in the case of fish farming. The high interest rate charged as well as the demand for collateral of landed property or other assets also compound the issue.
Moreover, some new technology has often been inappropriate to women’s needs. There is a need to define some priority actions to promote the role of women in the economy because it has been showed that women are productive and efficient when they have access to the right technologies and opportunities.
??????????? The benefits derivable from empowering the women folk are far reaching, starting with family advancement and eventually touching on the national and global economic advancement. According to the Nigerian Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajiya H. S. Bungudu, the latest Nigerian census revealed that women constitute 49.9% of the nation’s population; the underrepresentation of women (2%) in the nation’s development processes in finance, business and investment fronts renders 40% of the population inadequately positioned to contribute to the economic growth of the country. It is the nation that blends the strengths of women and men that will lead the world in development (Kiyosaki 1993) in the field of agriculture and other sectors.




7)??????????????? Entrepreneurial Attitude

Despite women’s extensive and varied participation in agriculture, they continue to have less access to modern agriculture inputs. Consequently, women agro-entrepreneurs work under very difficult and laborious conditions, using crude traditional technology. Technology is closely related to finance and education. Nigerian women entrepreneurs, especially in agriculture, work under very difficult and laborious conditions, using crude traditional technology. There is urgent need for provision of modern, cost effective and affordable technologies for the use of women.??
Olutunla G.T. (2008): Policy Framework and Strategy for Entrepreneurship Development of Nigerian Women. A paper presented at the 3-day International workshop on “Promoting Entrepreneurship Education Amongst Nigerian Women: Issues and Approaches” Abuja. 15p

·??????? Nigerian women should be encouraged to network more, both at the national and international levels for more exposure, to access fund and export information.

The Role of Women in Agriculture

Waton (undated) cited in Okara (2005) identified the basic requirements of an entrepreneur to include: hardwork, teamwork, commitment, appreciation, listening, high expectations, setting achievable goals. Women, by nature and exposure to family relationships, possess most of these qualities that are essential and can be enhanced for entrepreneurial success.

·??????? Agro-extension institutions should be boosted and more women extension agents be trained to reduce women to extension workers ratio and for wider coverage of women agriculturists.

Buvinie, M. and Mehra, R. (1990): Women in Agriculture: What Development can do. ICRW (International Centre for Research on Women) Pp. 3-5.
Fasokun, T.O. (200-): The role of education in poverty eradication. In “Education for the Millennium Development” Vol.1 Eds; M.? Boucouvalas and R. Aderinoye. Spectrum Books Ltd., Ibadan pg.459-475



????????? Many researchers have shown that poverty is a malady that incapacitates its victim economically and indirectly subject him/her to a state of destitution, voicelessness, powerlessness and even violence (World Bank 2000; Okojie, 2002) Unfortunately, the most affected ###### by the above incapacitation are women and children. Statistics show that women are poorer than men. The UNDP (1995) estimated that, about 60% of the world-poors, are women. Women are poorer because they are more vulnerable economically.



Accat, E.C. (1983): “Women’s Role in Horticultural Production in Developing Countries” A Paper presented at F.A.O. Expert Consultation on Women in Food Production. Rome, Italy. 7-14 December, pp. 3-7.
??????????? Some of the many obstacles that hinder women enterprise development, agribusiness growth and improved income earnings include;



·??????? Cooperatives and women groups should be more formally instituted and encouraged among women to position them strategically to access fund and other inputs with ease.
Entrepreneurship or investing is not an exclusive reserve of any gender. Both women and men generate the same result provided they follow the principles of investment. Kiyosaki (1993) proves with statistical data in United States, that women are better investors than men. A year 2000 National Association of Investors Corporation (NAIC) study found that women-only clubs achieved average annual returns of 32% since 1951 versus 23% for men-only investment clubs. The verdict is; women know how to handle money and can be greater entrepreneurs than men if the various obstacles to development is removed or minimized.

??????????? Currently, the Microfinance banks (MFB) are the government’s latest major organ of policy for entrepreneurship finance in Nigeria. In an ongoing research conducted recently,head microgel, it was discovered that male to female application and approval by MFB are in the ratio 65% to 35%. This discrepancy was linked to women entrepreneurs approaching banks on an individual basis and lack of soundly written business plan and/or feasibility studies (Olutunla, 2008).


Many agricultural projects and programs are not suited to the special circumstances of women or may not reach women at all, thus truncating the intended effort to increase food production.

Policy Framework for Women Entrepreneurship Development
Okojie, C.E.E. (2002): “Globalization and the Women’s Enterprises; Opportunity and Challenges”. UNIFEM Women Entrepreneurs Forum. Lagos


??????????? A small-scale farming is a farm holding established on a land area of not less than 5 hectares. In Nigeria, most of the small-scale farming enterprises are owned by men. This does not imply that Nigerian women agriculturists are not desirous of expanding their businesses due to so many challenges which border on gender issues, economic or socio-cultural barriers as well as government unfavourable policies. This paper, a purely descriptive research, employs secondary data to expound on the issues and challenges confronting the development of the Nigerian women to full blown agro- entrepreneurs for national economic advancement. The rest of the discussion in this paper is organized along the following issues;
1)??? Finance
Despite women’s extensive and varied participation in agriculture, they continue to have less access to credit and modern agriculture inputs. Consequently, their farm works is labor-intensive, yields meager economic returns (Buvinie and Mehra,hogan shoes on sale, 1990) and operate mostly at subsistence level. International Labour Organization (ILO 2003) quoted in Akpera and Sunday (2008) reported that Nigerian and African women entrepreneurs in general are in the micro enterprise sector and almost invisible in the small and medium enterprise categories.


·??????? Conclusion.


·??????? Women’s potentials in entrepreneurial skills.







REFERENCES



·??????? The enabling environment in terms of gender-friendly policies, good roads, pipe-borne water and electricity should be provided by the various arms of government.
v???? Are blessed with ability to persist and pursue their desires
5)?????? Lack of Equipment and Appropriate Technology
8)?????????????????? Research and Extension Services

v???? Have creative abilities


For a long time, agronomic researchers do not pay attention to the role of women in the farming system. Research into the activities of women in agriculture is gaining attention only recently. A survey in Ogun State, Nigeria (Elabor-Idemudia, 1991) and Osun State, Nigeria (Ogbimi and Williams, 1999) revealed that Extension Agents visited between 7-10% of women farmers every week compared to 70% of the male farmers who received weekly visits. An FAO (1989) study found government investment on agriculture represented less than half the sector’s contribution to national income, therefore, it is reasonable to guess that women’s access to extension services and training especially in the area of fish farming, processing, packaging, distribution and marketing are unlikely to improve when the overall funding and availability of services is declining.
·??????? Why women entrepreneurship development?


Food and Agricultural Organization (1982): Role of Women in Agricultural Production. FAO, Rome pg.5
Ezumah N. N. and Di Domenico C. M. (1995):Enhancing the role of women in crop production: A case ??? study of Igbo women in Nigeria. World Development, 23(10), p1731-1744.
References and further reading may be available for this article. To view references and further reading you must purchase this article.

·??????????????????? The complementary policy issues in entrepreneurship education should include increasing women enrolment in schools at all levels especially in the field of agriculture to reduce gender inequality. Budgetary allocation should be made to accommodate more continuing and vocational education.

9)????????? Misplaced Focus
v???? Are good and patient nurtures of children, and this tenacity is usually transferred into business
There are certain myths about women in respect to credit which have made them to remain poor and limited their entrepreneurial prospects. One of such myths is that poor women make poor credit risks. This is being proved wrong as Olutunla (2008) reported that Nigerian women have been found to be more faithful in terms of loan repayment to Banks than men.


Due to lack of good roads in Nigeria, electricity, poor access to information and poor networking,abercrombie & fitch pants, many farm produce perish thus discouraging women farmers.
World Bank (2000): “Nigeria at a glance”. The World Bank, Washington D.C

·??????? Women should be exposed to the latest agro-technology from time to time to remove drudgery in farming, processing and preservation techniques.
v???? Have ability to develop passion for what they believe in


????? Entrepreneurial education seems to be the major key policy to promote entrepreneurship development for women in Nigeria. Entrepreneurship education should be inculcated into school curriculum at all levels. Research indicates that Small and Medium Enterprise Industrial Empowerment Scheme (SMEIES) operators ranked the reasons for failure of entrepreneurs’ application for loans and came up with reasons that range from bad feasibility studies, poor management skills, lack of proper accounting, poor character checks and attitudes among others. All these are challenges that can be remedied by entrepreneurship education. Even as the 93 approved Nigerian universities have adopted entrepreneurial studies, funds and the dearth of teachers to train the students has remained an obstacle.
v???? Are good innovators
4)??? Cultural Restrictions/Weak Land Rights:




Many women, due to lack of exposure and financial limitations, still make use of old technology in farming, processing and preservation thus leading to drudgery and low output.
??????????? Suleiman (2006) defined entrepreneurship as “the willingness and ability of an individual to seek for investment opportunities to establish and run an enterprise successfully” while Drucker viewed an entrepreneur as a person who perceives business opportunities and takes advantage of the scarce resources and uses them profitably. Entrepreneurs are job creators and/or become self-employed rather than seekers of jobs in an overstretched public service. Using USA standard, a woman-owned enterprise is a small enterprise that is at least 51% owned, managed and operated by one or more women.
Women’s Potentials in Entrepreneurial Skills ????????????????????????????????????????????


·??????? Modern processing plants/storage facilities should be installed for women groups on government/private joint partnership basis so that women can process and store their farm produce with ease.

Magaji, S. (2004): “Introduction to Project Evaluation”. Sanitex Press.? Abuja
Akpera D.M. and Sunday M. (2008): Strategies for the development of entrepreneurs in Nigeria. A paper presented at the 3-day International workshop on “Promoting Entrepreneurship Education Among Nigeria women: Issues and Approaches” Abuja 12p
A number of current training centers/programs are urban-based, for example, the Industrial Development Centers established in the 1960s are urban-based. Small Medium Entrepreneurial Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) aimed at facilitating credit, technology markets, capacity building, training and technical support for SMEs and provide adequate linkage with women bodies is urban-based and starved of funds. Agribusiness is rural-based and better educated farmers are more likely to adopt new technologies and have access to credit and extension services (Adereti, 2000).
·??????? Policy Framework for Women Entrepreneurship Development.


Nigerian Women Agro-entrepreneurship Development: Issues and Challenges
Introduction


A significant amount of work has been carried out in developing countries on the potential of women in boosting food production. Boserup (1970) described Black Africa as the region of female farming par excellence. FAO (1982) estimated that the rural women contribute two-third of all the time that is put into traditional agriculture in Africa. Accat (1983) also pointed out that 80% of African women are engaged in agriculture. Patel and Antonio (1973) reported that 95% of the Yoruba women of the Southwestern Nigeria are engaged in farm works, growing yams, maize, tobacco and cassava, poultry and fish farming. They also participate in bush clearing, land preparation and weeding. In addition to their role in production, they are actively engaged in harvesting, processing and marketing of farm produce. The participation of Igbo men in nonfarm activities and waged employment has resulted in an increased workload for women in food crop production as well as a breakdown of the gender division of labor in agriculture. Igbo women now undertake some of the conventional male agricultural tasks in addition to those in the female domain (Ezumah and Di Domenico, 1995). The predominance of women in the small-scale fisheries post-harvest activities: micro-fish retailing, fish processing, fish distribution and marketing, make women the major players in the socio-economic development of the West African countries.


Conclusion








??????????? Nigeria’s vision of becoming one of the top twenty leading economies of the world by the year 2020, otherwise known simply as vision 20:20 appears compelling enough to energize its over 150 million people (nearly half of which are women) to make the vision a reality. To accomplish this laudable goal, there is urgent need to pay attention to the development of agro-women entrepreneurs so that they can take their place in family advancement and national economic development. The government and development/change agencies must not only be prepared to recognize the economic role of the women but must also extend to them the same recognition and facilities as the men are enjoying.




·??????? Challenges faced by women agro-entrepreneurs.




2)?????? Manpower and Education
Patel, A.U. and Anthonio, Q.B.O. (1973): “Farmers’ Wives in Agricultural Development: The Nigerian Case” Paper presented at XV International Congress of Agricultural Economists. August 20-29, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Food and Agricultural Organization (1989): Effects of Stabilization and Structural Adjustment
Why Women Entrepreneurship Development?
Programmes on Food Security. Committee on World Food Security, Fourteenth Session, Rome, Italy, 3-7 April 1987.
Adereti F.O. (2000): Poverty Alleviating Strategies for Rural Women in Osun State. Unpublished Ph.D Thesis, University of Ibadan , pp.36-37.
Women in general are naturally endowed with some exceptional abilities, which if properly harnessed for entrepreneurship purpose, could result in positive and enviable results. Women by nature;
According to Akpa (2007),hogan boots, an average entrepreneur is rugged and aggressive. These are common attributes of men while most women are of the gentle and kind disposition. Men tend to focus on gettingthe job done while women tend to focus on being more inclusive and relational. If a woman entrepreneur is to succeed, she must adopt some level of ruggedness and aggressiveness. Success is not gender-friendly.
10)????? Market and Marketing
The whole business be- it agricultural or any other, revolves around the entrepreneur (visionary) as she combines all other human, financial and material resources to create an enterprise of value. The chief executive of the business outfit must be knowledgeable to effectively mobilize resources to advantage. Agribusiness at small or medium scale is highly professional, technologically driven and require some level of education. Education not only provides basic knowledge and skills to improve health and Iivelihood, but it empowers women to take their rightful place in society and the development process (Fasokun 2000).



Boserup, E. (1970): Women’s Role in Economic Development. St. Martino Press New York, George Allen and Unwin Ltd.
in Bendel and Ogun States, Nigeria. In: Structural Adjustment and West African Women Farmers, Christina H. Gladwin (ed.), Gainesville, University of Florida, p128-150


?????????? The findings of Thane (1978), Showalter (1987) and Lewis and Piachered (1987) cited in Magaji (2004) showed that women have been the poor ###### throughout the 20th Century and have formed a substantial majority of the poor since poverty was first recognized. On why women are the poorest ######, the physical strength of women and various challenges limit them to specific soft duties making it difficult to be enterprising. Entrepreneurship development therefore is a crucial tool for women’s economic empowerment.
The Challenges of Nigerian Women Agro-Entrepreneurs
The Nigerian culture cannot be described as being gender friendly. For example, the “Kule” policy in the North where married women are forbidden from going out of the house in daylight for business is an initiative/development-killer policy that should be discouraged in this 21st Century. In Sub-Saharan Africa, including Nigeria, where women have prime responsibility for food production,vibram trek sport, they are generally limited to user rights to land and subject to the consent of a male relative (FAO, 1982). Culture and social practices discriminate against women to be enterprise successors/inheritors or own independent assets which could easily serve as collaterals. Such unequal land rights are reflected in the smaller land sizes of women farmers thus limiting them economically.
Akpa A. (2007): Challenges of the Nigerian entrepreneur in the twenty-first century. A paper presented at the maiden Annual College of Management Sciences Seminar, University of Mkar. 10p

The greatest challenge for Nigerian women in agribusiness is lack of finance. Women in agribusiness need substantial finance both for start-up and expansion. Finance could be in form of equity or from external sources. Equity from informal sources includes personal savings, friends and relatives, traditional (esusu), professional and age-group associations as well as formal co-operative societies.
Elabor-Idemudia, P. (1991): Impact of Structural Adjustment Programs on Women and their Household
·??????????????????? More seminars/workshops should be sponsored and extended to rural areas to increase women’s capacity to start and grow their agribusiness, prepare sound business plan/feasibility studies and increase their technical and managerial capacity in agribusiness.
6)?????? Erroneous Ideas about Women and Credit

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If Justice Is Not Always an OutcomeMany of us would have hoped that the British government would not have jump on the American political bandwagon against Julian Assange but would have been more just and fair. But the might of America and its alliance seems to be more convincing to the UK government than justice and fairness. Winston Churchill once said that, "The whole history of the world is summed up in the fact that, when nations are strong, they are not always just, and when they wish to be just, they are no longer strong." How true it is? Is mighty America still just and fair? Does its flexing of its political muscles on a single individual (Julian Assange) who represents freedom of expression talk anything about justice and fairness?But justice is not always an outcome, as seen by the reactions of the British government towards Julian Assange who surrender voluntarily. So it needs the British justice system to provide a balance to the imbalance of political group thinking. UK as an ally wants to please its American political partner. But is it at the cost of justice and fairness? Do political alliances override justice and fairness? So, though many of us in the world would have hoped the British government to be more just and fair to Julian Assange, it did not turn out to be so. The dispensing of justice and fairness is now left to the British justice system which so far seems to be independent of political influence.