Socioeconomic Factors Influencing Performance of Community-Based Women Organizations (CBWOs) in Rural Development Projects in Imo and Rivers States

Community based organizations serve as the apex organizations by which communities can embark on agricultural development projects, small scale industries, vocational and trade, skills, rural transportation and other rural economic activities. However, certain factors hinder their performance. This paper seeks to unravel these factors. The study was conducted in Imo and Rivers States, Nigeria. A total of 240 CBWOs were selected for the study. Questionnaire was administered to then and data collected were analyzed with percentages and regression modal. The result of socio-economic characteristics showed that Community-Based Women Organizations had mean years of 21.1 and 28.9 of existence in Imo and Rivers States. Regression results of the socioeconomic factors influencing role performance of community-based women organizations showed that coefficients for age, membership size, number of meetings, type of project, access to credit and income influenced role performance of CBWOs in Imo, while membership size, number of meetings, type of project, access to credit and income were significant variables influenced CBWOs in Rivers State. The implication of the finding is that there was significant relationship between role performance and the selected variables. Based on the findings of the study it was recommended that agricultural policy makers should take into consideration the identified socio-economic characteristics of CBOs that influence their role performance.

Keywords: Women; Community; Organization; Agriculture