IIARD International Institute of Academic Research and Development

WORLD JOURNAL OF ENTREPRENEURIAL DEVELOPMENT STUDIES (WJEDS )

E-ISSN 2579-0544
P-ISSN 2695-2483
VOL. 9 NO. 6 2024
DOI: 10.56201/wjeds.v9.no6.2024.pg59.94

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Factors Affecting Women’s Success in Micro and Small Enterprises and Implications for Economic Development: The Role of Feed the Future Nigeria Integrated Agriculture Activity, Northeast Nigeria

Shakiru Oluwatosin Quadri, Prakash Kant Silwal, Bassey Archibong and Adamu Jibrilla

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Abstract

This study examines the factors affecting women’s success in micro and small enterprises in Northeast Nigeria focusing on the role of Feed the Future Nigeria Integrated Agriculture Activity. The Feed the Future Nigeria Integrated Agriculture Activity provided interventions for youth and women in the conflicted affected Northeast Nigeria to contribute towards such empowerment and building economic resilience. This study employed survey research design, collected data on the beneficiaries of the interventions and analysed using both descriptive and inferential methods. The findings from this study provided evidence that majority of the respondents/participants were youth, married, have at least primary education, with 1-10 household size and engaged in agricultural activities as their main source of occupation. Their annual income ranges between N100,000 and N500,000 further justifying the poverty level among the respondents. Majority (65%) of the respondents participated/benefitted from agricultural production and entrepreneurship and over 90% indicated to have increased their capacity to confront and address factors affecting their success in micro and small enterprises. The regression result shows that access to production knowledge and technology, ownership of farmland, Feed the Future gender training, access to enterprise starter park and annual income of the respondents have positive effect on women’s success in micro and small enterprises. On the other hand, poor access to bank accounts, poor access to credit, poor access to farmland, lack of control over farmland and lack of access to agro input dealers negatively affect women’s success in micro and small enterprises in Northeast Nigeria. The study recommends among others the need for more interventions both in material, financial and skill development and establishment of women-based fund by the government to specifically target micro and small women entrepreneurs.

keywords:

Women’s Success, Micro and Small Enterprises, Feed the Future, Northeast, Nigeria.

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