Extent of Rural Women’s Participation in Community Development Projects in Iddo Local Government Area of Oyo State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study examined extent of rural women participation in four community development projects in Ido local government area of Oyo State, Nigeria. Three hundred and ten rural women were selected from 10 political wards in Ido Local Government area of the State and data were collected through informal interview guide. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics such as frequency counts, percentages, mean while chi-square was used to determine the relationship between women’s socio-economic characteristics and extent of participation in community development project (CDP). Scores were also assigned for participation of women and this was categorized as high, average, low and no participation. Findings from the study show that women participated at different levels of the project but the overall participation was low. Chi-square result shows that occupation, income and marital status were significant to participation in CDP (at 0.05 level of significance). It is therefore recommended that government should improve the occupational condition and educational status of women so as to achieve rapid rural development and enhance women’s condition to local economy, household livelihood and improve standard of living.