CULTURAL INFLUENCES ON WOMEN PARTICIPATION IN AGRICULTURAL COOPERATIVES IN KOGI STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

This paper examined cultural influences on women participation in agricultural cooperatives in Kogi State, Nigeria. The paper adopted survey research design. The population was six thousand and forty-four (6,044) registered members of women agricultural cooperatives in the Kogi State. The sample size is three hundred and seventy-five (375), which was generated using Taro Yamane formula. Multi-stage sampling technique was used in selecting respondents. The major instrument for data collection was questionnaire. Through the aid of SPSS software data were analysed using frequency, percentage, mean ratings and multiple regression analysis. The findings revealed that cultural factors (X_2, X_3, X_4, X_5, and X_7, i.e., restriction of women on land ownership, misconception that women are not to exceed reproductive and domestic boundaries, non-transferable right to land ownership, erroneous belief that women should not lead where men are and the orientation that women are to be hidden than seen) caused about 91.5% of variations in women participation in agricultural cooperatives in the state. This paper concluded that these cultural practices or influences have not only restricted the women farmers from full agricultural cooperatives participation, but making many of them to be operating on subsistence level of farming. It was recommended among others that cooperative societies and the government should ensure that women are given equal playing ground to attain their full potentials. This can be achieved through effective law enactment against any form of cultural restriction on land ownership or usage. This will help eradicate the traditional misconception that women are not to exceed reproductive or domestic boundaries, and enable them to fully harness their agricultural potentials.