Demand-Driven Technologies for Sustainable Maize ... - IITA

331At present in Nigeria there is a variety of farmer groups found inrural areas. Mercoiret and Barthone (2003) categorized such groupsinto three. Included in the fi rst category are those that were introducedinto the country in the 1960s following a direct state interventionthrough its administrative and technical services based on key economicor technical functions. The second category comprises those involvedwith internal or external intervention, including women and youthgroups, which have been created by administrative services supportedby national or international donors to diversify their activities. The thirdcategory of farmer groups, which is the focus of this paper, includesthose groups resulting from local or autonomous initiatives or from ademonstration effect of successful groups that might be thriving withinthe locality.Traditionally, women in Nigeria form groups to perform certainfunctions such as production, processing, marketing and handcrafting.In some cases, they share tasks of labor on each other’s farms on arotational basis. Marcoiret and Barthone (2003) opined that the rolethat women farmers can play in defi ning objectives and managementof agricultural development programs will depend on how well theycan organize themselves in an autonomous manner.The objective of the research reported in this paper was to assess thestrengths, weaknesses and level of the participation of women farmergroups in the production of maize (Zea mays L.) in Lere and KauruLocal Government Areas (LGAs) of Kaduna State, Nigeria. The resultsobtained from the study provided the basis for recommendations thatwould empower women farmers to carry out their maize productionactivities more effi ciently.MethodologyWith the assistance of the Cooperative Offi cers in the Kauru LGAand Agricultural Development Projects (ADPs) in the Lere LGA,some “active” women groups were identifi ed, from which 19 or 30%were randomly selected in each LGA for this study. About 50% ofthe members in each group were in turn randomly selected, givinga total of 195 individual respondents. Data were collected throughfocus group discussion with each of the groups as well as through aquestionnaire administered to the 195 individual members. In bothcases, attention was focused on maize production and marketing.The factors affecting the participation of women in group activitieswere assessed based on scoring techniques. The maximum level ofindividual factors was assigned a value of 5 and appropriate valueswere assigned on different criteria infl uencing these factors (Table 1).These scores were used to calculate the level of participation of thegroups; groups with a mean score of less than 2 were classifi ed as