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

336Table 5. Spearman rank correlation coefficients between level ofperformance and factors affecting the performance in groupactivities of women’s groups in the Lere and Kauru LocalGovernment Areas of Kaduna State, Nigeria.Correlation Coeffi cient (r value) withFactors affecting performancelevel of performanceExternal support 0.249*Linkage with other organizations 0.272*Group meetings 0.226Leadership 0.255*Record keeping 0.521**Training 0.027Group planning 0.566**Membership contribution 0.346**Access to credit 0.460**Provision of goods and services to0.120members*,**r-values signifi cantly different from zero at 0.05 and 0.01 levels of probability.Table 6. Changes resulting from involvement in group activities bymembers of women’s groups in the Lere and Kauru LocalGovernment Areas of Kaduna State, Nigeria.ChangesLere LGA Kauru LGA TotalsFreq % Freq % Freq %Increased farm size 9 6.3 - - 9 4.7Increased no. of animals 18 12.6 - - 18 9.3Use of improved varieties 79 55.2 33 66 112 58.0Diversifi cation of activities 80 55.9 31 62 111 57.5Increased income 89 62.2 34 68 133 68.9Increased food security 40 28.0 1 20 41 21.2Increased literacy 46 32.2 38 76 84 43.5Improved hygiene 21 16.1 15 30 36 18.6Improved housing 26 18.2 4 8 30 15.5Changes in welfare 143 100 50 100 193 100provided to group members. Spearman rank correlation coeffi cientsindicated that group planning (r=0.566; P≤0.01), record keeping(r=0.521; P≤0.01), access to credit (r=0.460; P≤0.01), membershipcontribution (r=0.346 P≤0.01), linkage with other organizations(r=0.272; P≤0.05), leadership (r=0.255; P≤0.05) and externalsupport (r=0.249; P≤0.05) had signifi cant positive relationships withperformance of women’s groups (Table 5). However, group meetings,training of members and services provided to members did not showany signifi cant relationship with group performance.Changes recorded by members’ households as a result of theirinvolvement in group activitiesAll group members reported changes because of their involvement ingroup activities (Table 6). About 58% of the members used improvedseed and 57% had diversifi ed their activities. Similarly, 69% had