The Role of Women in Promoting Agricultural Productivity And Developing Skills For Improved Quality of Life In Rural Areas

The paper presents different aspects of issues surrounding Women affairs in rural Communities in Nigeria.We investigated the role being played by rural women in an agricultural setting.Women were found to be providers of large proportion of labour in rural agricultural communities, from subsistence to commercial farming.We also found that one of the main causes of this phenomenon is the rural-urban migration of men in search of paid employment in towns and cities, either in their own country or abroad.As men leave their rural homes, the role of women in agricultural production becomes increasingly dominant.Our investigation revealed that Rural women produce as much as 80% of the food we eat.The Nigerian rural women are the chief source of agricultural labour, yet are also the central victims of hunger, malnutrition, poverty, high fertility and maternal mortality rates.The result is progressive reduction in productivity and output.There is therefore urgent need to increase women empowerment in Nigeria, for higher productivity.