Influence of Climate Change on the Entrepreneurial Skills Development of Rural Women in Abia State

Climate change is a global challenge that burdens all humanity, more worrisome are the differences between men and women in terms of impacts, vulnerabilities, responses and capacity to adapt to climate change. Increases in temperature, variable rainfall, rise in sea level and flooding, drought and desertification, land degradation, more frequent extreme weather events, and loss of biodiversity, climate change has increased the durations and intensities of rainfall, producing large runoffs are evidence in many places in Nigeria. Climate change poses serious threats to lives and livelihoods of small-scale producers and women in particular. Generally, the work burden of fetching water and collecting firewood usually falls on women and girls, who have to fulfill the needs of their families, thus losing valuable time for businesses and other paying ventures. Meanwhile, the distinct impacts of climate change on women are exacerbated in settings that are affected by economic strife, by which the rural women entrepreneurs are the main target. This paper presents entrepreneurship as a tool for facilitating rural economic development, which is becoming increasingly needed to respond to the growing impact of climate change on rural women. The paper examined the impact of climate change on the entrepreneurial skills development of rural women in Abia state. Using survey description, the study adopted multistage sampling technique. The study used a 16-item questionnaire to gather information from 135 respondents drawn from three autonomous communities in the three senatorial zones of the state. Findings indicated that that there is an interrelationship between climate change and women entrepreneurial activities as extreme weather factors adversely affects farming, and other forms of livelihoods (3.36). Also, rural women in Abia state possess entrepreneurial skills like decision making (2.7), time management (3.4), strategic thinking (3.3), communication (3.3), these skills enable women to persevere in the face of climate change and to come up with creative ideas that enables them increase household income, remain efficient and manage time effectively (3.0). In conclusion, climate is an evolving trend that is both natural and man-made generated, therefore families especially women entrepreneurs must evolve ways of coping. The paper therefore recommended among others, the need for government and relevant stakeholders to pursue climate change management in a manner that recognizes women as vital agents of change, so that their needs and their contributions will be a part of the mitigation and adaptation strategies as they are the ones mostly affected by climate change.