WOMEN EMPOWERMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF NUTRITION SENSITIVE AGRICULTURE AMONG FEMALE COOPERATIVE FARMERS IN ENUGU STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study investigates the role of women empowerment in the implementation of nutrition sensitive agriculture among female cooperative farmers in Enugu state. Using a multi-stage sampling method, 300 female cooperative famers were selected from the 4000 females registered in cooperatives in Enugu state. Data was analyzed using Abbreviated Women Empowerment in Agriculture Index (A-WEAI), Likert-scale ratings and poison regression. The mean empowerment scores reveal that female farmers in Enugu State are most empowered in income-related decisions (0.66) and leadership (0.59), while they experience the lowest levelsof empowerment in agricultural production (0.15) and time allocation (0.33).The perceived factors influencing level of women empowerment included marital status, gender-based violence and discrimination, lack of participation in community associations, limited access to basic infrastructure, lack of access to healthcare facilities, lack of skills and training and lack of awareness on respondents’rights.The variables which were statistically significant to production diversity of the respondents were; food knowledge (P<0.10), off farm income (P<0.05), primary occupation (P<0.05) and years of farming experience (P<0.05).The study calls for development and implementation of gender-inclusive policies and programs that will improve the socio-economic lifestyle of female farmers to have the potential to be effective for improving nutrition security. These policies and programs should have primary goal such as income generation or provision of social amenities like improved water facilities, access to needed farm inputs and incentives