Gender Roles, Rural Household Food Security and Entrepreneurship Among Women in Selected Fishing Communities in South Western Nigeria

Abstract

Nigerian women in fishing sector remain a potent force in the economic growth of fishing communities. The basic objective of involving women in fisheries Development is to make them equal partners to men. That will enable them to participate productively and self-reliantly to improve their family’s nutritional and living standards. To create and maintain food and income security in the household, the activities are directed to economic, social and communal organizational and population related aspects. However, many socio-economic factors influences their entrepreneurial skills. This study examines some objectives, such as the roles women play in planning and fisheries management, describing the socio-economic factors, affecting fishing households. Allocation of labour time, determining the effects of some simulated policies on entrepreneurship among the women in the study area. 100 respondents were interviewed in all. A participatory action research approach was employed in addition to the use of primary and secondary data. Purposive sampling method was used in order to cover various aspects of women's economic roles in the fishing communities. Special effort was made to include all economic ventures; attention was given to the scale of operation and method of fishing activities by men and women who supply the primary products. formal and informal and group discussions were carried out for the qualitative method. For the analysis, simple counts, tables of frequencies were used. With respect to estimates of income. The study also highlighted the problems encountered by the women in the study area and proffer solution.