THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN RURAL DEVELOPMENT THROUGH CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES

 

There have been failures thwarting the concerted efforts to promote cooperative movement in the world. The evidence could be provided with the chief protagonists, ROBERT OWEN who experienced it between 1825 and 1887. Through other cooperative movement which borrowed their experiences from twenties movement sprang up and witnessed successful operation at a slow pace there after.

1.1   GENERAL OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY

Women play vital roles in the socio economic and political development of a particular country. Such role therefore, contribute to the development of rural areas and help in improving the standard of living of the rural areas. Indeed in same cases, through the activities of some women cooperatives. Infrastructural facilities and social amenities are provided in the community. These women are indispensable in the building (development) process of a country, particularly the rural areas.

Notably, the roles played by women cooperatives in the rural rural areas-building vary from one society to another. However, these roles remain basically the same because the nature of women is the same everywhere. The women in every culture are endowed with such qualities and responsibilities that necessitate the roles which they perform. The roles which they play perform start with the roles which they play in their various families. Each family is the smallest unit of the entire society. It is in the family that the women begin to play certain roles before they perform some other roles in the wider society. Infact, such roles which they will effectively play roles assigned to them outside their families.

In the Nigerian society today, it is impossible to discuss such roles like food production handling, processing and preparation without making reference to the Nigeria women. As a mater of fact, they are the main group involved in the performance of these roles. It is an established fact that the women in Nigeria and African as a whole are not only the main producers of food, but also engage in other income generating activities. It has been established that women working in some farms produce about 90% of the food consumed locally. Not only that, women are responsible for preparing the food and nutrition of the family. Ibraham, 1990 cited in Onuegbu (2001:39). The contribution of women in the agricultural sub sector of the Nigeria economy cannot be over looked, in almost all the food producing areas in the country. The work is done through manual labour. The women in these areas provide most of the labour required. In addition to extensive agriculture, women are involved in home gardening. This provides fresh fruits and leafy vegetables for the family, thus supplying the necessary vitamins and mineral element required for the body functions.

According to Onuegbu (2001) in a publication highlighting the achievement of the “Better life” programme in Imo State, it was noted that women in Imo State on the whole involve themselves in farming activities extensively. In the report, it was stated that the women have been the source of families having cassava, which is a staple food. In the area, they are usually involved in the cultivation weeding of farms, harvesting the mature crops, processing and the marketing of the products. Therefore, without the activities of the women, cassava production will be near impossible. This is true for, almost all the food items produced in Nigerian.

While emphasizing on the role of the women in the processing of agricultural products mainly in the areas of extracting palm oil, it was revealed that, apart from the actual harvesting of the palm fruits, the other activities are done by women. These include removing the nuts from the bunches, boiling, pounding, separating kernels from fiber, soaking and washing of fiber in water, extracting the oil from water and cooking the oil.