Engagement of Rural Women in Agricultural Activities for Income Generation in Borgu Local Government Area, Niger State, Nigeria

The study assessed engagement of rural women in agricultural activities as a means of income generation in Borgu Local Government Area, Niger state, Nigeria. The study made use of both primary and secondary data. The instrument used for collecting the primary data was a set of structured questionnaires. Data were collected from (180) rural women farmers from six rural communities around New bussa Urban of Borgu Local government area. Data generated were analyzed using frequencies, percentages and mean. Result obtained from the study showed that rural women engage and make more income from processing activities than production, and marketing activities. Under production activities, respondents engaged more on crop planting, harvesting and grain picking (roro). While in processing activities women engage more in Shea butter, fish, rice, groundnut oil and kulikuli, soya cheese, soya milk, snacks, frying of akara and masa. For marketing activities, majority of the respondents engaged in fetching and selling of firewood, cooking and selling food, fish, grains and vegetables. High enabling factors for success found are communication and market with mobile phone, electricity supply, input access and availability, personal experience, local knowledge, good weather, security and peace in the environment while the Identified challenges reported were inadequate capital, lack of new knowledge and skills, digital marketing problem, illness and health issues, and lack of social amenities in the communities. Based on the findings, rural women need capacity building, new seed varieties, modern processing and packaging methods, credit facilities as well as functional and active cooperative group. As such, there’s need for their training on social media marketing, cooperative leadership, financial literacy and networking with government and non-governmental organisations within and outside local government area.