1This section attempts to review existing literature on the role of women in development, the constraints facing women, the impact of economic adjustment on women and existing measures for targeting vulnerable groups in general, and women in particular, during the process of adjustment. While this review is not exhaustive, it aims at providing a background for the analysis that follows in subsequent sections.

2The role of women in an economy, especially in developing countries, has been extensively researched. The involvement of women in rural development has also been discussed. Although some of this work has been criticized for bias, as it emanated from feminist groups, there is no doubt that the contributions of women are critical in the development process. According to the United Nations (1993),

... women constitute a majority of the world’s population but they receive only a small proportion of its opportunities and benefits.

3It asserts that there is no country in the world in which the quality of life of women is equal to that of men, implying that women are generally exploited. In a similar vein, the UN Report (1989) noted that one out of three households in the world has a woman as its breadwinner. This indicates that many households depend solely on women. The United Nations Fund for Women (UNIFEM, 1989) indicated that for every woman living in poverty, there are four hungry children. Therefore, the size of a mother’s income has a direct bearing on the nutritional status of her children. According to UNIFEM (1989), ‘the higher the woman’s income, the less likely her children are to suffer hunger’. UNIFEM also asserted that two-thirds of the world’s illiterate population are women, in spite of the fact that the level of a woman’s education is the single most important influence on the survival rate of her children. There are many indications in the various UN agencies’ records emphasizing the importance of women and pointing out their disproportionately small share from the benefits of development.

4According to Harbison (1971), the bulk of Africa’s labour force is in the rural sector. Generating employment or increasing the productivity and the incomes of the rural masses must depend upon broadly based rural development. Rural development involves much more than an increase in agricultural and livestock output and productivity. It includes village and small town development, the expansion of local trade and commerce, the organization of cooperatives, the provision of credit, the creation of local industries for processing agricultural products and the provision of housing, water, sanitation, roads and communication. It requires investment in many kinds of rural public works in addition to those required for the improvement of agriculture. Broadly-based rural development would imply the transformation of stagnant traditional societies into productive, dynamic ones. Agriculture, particularly developed, i.e., mechanized agriculture, can absorb only part of the rural labour supply. Increased employment has to be generated from rural industries, public works, education, health related activities, trade, transport and communication related ventures. In a similar vein, Coombs and Ahmed (1994) defined rural development as incorporating agricultural growth, sustained social and economic development, with emphasis on the generation of new employment opportunities, improved health, nutrition, housing, water supplies, recreation facilities, etc. Rural development, according to this definition, would, therefore, boost agricultural technology, eliminate poverty, disease, ignorance and inequity in the rural sector.

5 Women actively participate in the development of the rural sector as contributors, beneficiaries and planners in the development process (Okojie 1990a, b). As contributors, they can participate in production. As beneficiaries, they share in the fruits of development through greater access to education, health facilities, housing, improved technology, etc. Women can also participate in planning for rural development programmes, especially if planning has a bottom-up approach, which it should have.

6Many studies have shown that women have contributed substantially to food production and processing (Makinwa-Adebusoye 1985; Enumali, 1995; Longe, 1985). The role of women has been succinctly summarized by Tewe (1978) thus:

... they actually participate in planting, weeding, processing and marketing, most harvesting is done by them, women spend between six and eight hours on the farm daily, dividing these between their (own) farms and their husbands. While women generally grow food crops, men are engaged in commercial crops.

Women’s Role in the Nigerian Society

7With specific reference to Nigeria, Simmons (1975, 1976) noted that while the Yoruba women of Western Nigeria are usually traders, the Igbo women of Eastern Nigeria are active farmers. The Hausa-Fulani women of Northern Nigeria participate in farming activities to varying degrees as well as in food processing activities. Mcdowell and Hazard (1976) said that women are also responsible for domestic tasks: cooking, washing, fetching water and firewood, tending livestock, etc.

8Arguing in a similar way, Tadesse (1984) noted that in Africa, women play a major role in agricultural ventures involving the production, preservation and commercialization of produce thereby generating income. Women are estimated to contribute about 70 per cent of the labour in food production and to be almost entirely responsible for food processing. In rural areas, while men do land clearing, grow perennial crops, provide meat and raise larger animals, women do the planting, hoeing, thinning and weeding of crops and care for domestic animals. They also harvest, preserve and prepare food in addition to caring for their children. Not only do rural women produce food crops, they spend much time working on their husbands’ cash crops, market some of their surplus, and engage in various income-generating activities.

9According to the Overseas Development Agency (ODA) (1994), although situations vary across Nigeria, most rural women engage in agriculture, and in many areas, undertake most farm operations except bush clearing. In addition to their key role in food production and household maintenance, ODA confirms that women are also responsible for food processing enterprises. In the south of Nigeria, women are key figures in the marketing of food products and processed foods, while in the north Fulani women process and market dairy products. Rural women also own and care for poultry and ruminants. In addition, women are responsible for managing the household and in most instances, provide household food and children’s clothing.

10It is obvious that women’s contributions to the economy are quite substantial. It is clear, therefore, that any attempt .at promoting development, especially in developing countries, must recognize women’s efforts and incorporate these into its strategies.

Constraints Faced by Women

11In spite of the overwhelming contributions that women have made and are expected to make to the socio-economic development of their nations, they are still faced with many constraints which tend to limit their activities. These constraints occur the world over, but they seem to be more severe in developing countries.

12According to the Overseas Development Agency (1994), women face social and legal constraints which inhibit their access to land, credit and productive assets. It is for this reason that rural women throughout Nigeria organize local informal savings and credit associations to pool resources and provide small loans to members. Snyder (1990) noted that employment for women in the formal sector is limited in many developing countries, as women occupy only about 10 per cent of such jobs. Even where jobs in the formal sector are given to women, women’s wages are only 50 to 67 per cent of men’s with the same qualifications. It is estimated that women run about 70 per cent of the micro-enterprises in the world today (UNIFEM, 1989). In the informal sector, they engage in trade, tailoring, domestic service, etc. Sometimes, women prefer work in the informal sector, despite the low income, because the flexible working hours allow them to spend time at home with their children and the informal working conditions allow them to take their children along to work.

13Cultural restrictions often limit women’s ability to accumulate assets, to access productive resources like land and credit, and to obtain highly paid employment (Snyder, 1990). Traditional constraints, not only limit opportunities for women, they also limit directly (or more subtly) women’s own demand for such opportunities (Hertz, 1989a). The Federal Office of Statistics (1980) showed that more than half of Nigeria’s employed women are in sales-related occupations in the informal sector, particularly trading in the market. This is because they do not possess adequate qualifications for salaried employment. Even when women have formal sector opportunities, they are usually employed in low status, low paying occupations (Okojie, 1990a). Akande (1984) asserted that women in Nigeria have been active in rural development. The status and opportunities for women in the urban areas are no different. They are usually employed as traders in the informal sector.

14The fact that many women, especially in the rural areas, lack the education to ensure formal sector employment has led planners to design programmes to address such constraints. Adult education helps people to know where to go for assistance and how to apply for it. According to Snyder (1990), women’s groups are committed, ready, and able to take on new roles, but they need the skills and the know-how for selecting the most effective action. The introduction of adult education is, therefore, a crucial and necessary condition for improving the well-being of women and their families.

15The constraints facing women are not limited to their attempts to improve themselves as individuals but also as groups. This has been the experience of women’s cooperatives in many developing countries.

16There are a number of factors which hamper the ability of the cooperative movement to successfully fulfil women’s needs, particularly those of poor women. First, there are traditional and cultural practices and customs that make it difficult for women to participate fully in the development of the society. They have few resources of their own and are not allowed to own land. They have litde free time of their own, since in addition to farming they are responsible for almost all of the domestic chores and childcare activities. Rural women have to put in a lot of time and work to satisfy the demands of elaborate social hierarchies. They have little opportunity for formal education.

17The money obtained by women through cooperatives often arouses male suspicion. In some cases it causes outright hostility because of the fear that if women become economically independent they may be able to repay the brideprice and claim a divorce. Many women have, therefore, been forced to resign from cooperatives by their husbands.

18Women the world over, but especially in developing countries, are handicapped by social, legal, cultural and traditional barriers. These have prevented them from achieving their maximum potential and have not allowed the society to derive maximum benefit from this vital group. These constraints have to be relaxed to enable women contribute maximally to societal development. As Hertz (1989a) puts it:

... the challenge thus becomes how to include women more effectively in development activities, a challenge that was first taken up by the UN Decade for Women (1975- 1985).

19Similarly, she noted:

... if policy makers hope to make further progress in improving economic performance, reducing poverty, slowing down population growth, and stopping environmental degradation, they will have to go much further to involve women in economic development. (Hertz, 1989b)

20Many developing countries have undergone various adjustment programmes. In almost all of these countries, the instruments have included currency devaluation, subsidy withdrawal and cuts in government spending, especially on social services. These have resulted in economic hardship such as unemployment, inflation and a decrease in social welfare, especially for the poor or the vulnerable. It was estimated in 1989 (UNICEF, 1989), that the share of health in total public spending in sub-Saharan Africa had fallen by 50 per cent for most countries, while educational expenditure had declined by almost 50 per cent.

21Women, children and the aged are the groups most affected by the pains of adjustment. They are the poorest segments of the society with relatively low incomes and they are more vulnerable to upheaval and societal change. They spend virtually all their income on the basic necessities of life, and when their income falls as a result of an adjustment programme they have to do without these necessities. Unlike the rich, this group lacks political power to resist or protest against expenditure cuts in public services, on which they depend for health care and education (Olaloku, 1990).

22The vulnerable group can be sub-classified into rural and urban for the purpose of extending protection to them during adjustment. Although the effects of economic adjustment are adverse to all members of the vulnerable group whether urban or rural based, the nature and the degree of these effects vary with the. nature, profile and character of poverty as well as the types of economic activities in which a particular group is engaged (Olaloku, 1990). According to Serageldin (1989), poverty is more concentrated in the rural areas of developing countries than in the urban areas.

23Since income is the principal variable that determines individual welfare, strategies devised to protect the welfare of the poor must be directed towards enhancing their income prospects directly or indirectly (Olaloku, 1990). Measures that directly increase income include: facilitating access to productive assets, raising the returns to assets, improving rural infrastructures and increasing employment opportunities for the poor, etc. Measures that tend to increase incomes indirectly include: subsidies for private and social services which satisfy basic needs such as food, fuel, education, health and housing; and tax reductions, especially for the poorest segment of the society.

24One major way to improve rural women’s productivity and income, especially during adjustment periods, is to provide them with credit. Women’s problems in this regard stem from the fact that most financial institutions demand collateral in the form of land and other assets for loans and it is the men who usually hold the legal title to these assets (Hertz, 1989b). Women’s access to credit could be improved by providing credit in small quantities, over the short term, for productive purposes by creating more branches of lending institutions; by moving bank requirements away from the asset-based collateral to the group guarantee; and by increased lending for activities that would generate cash income.

25The Better Life Programme was aimed at increasing women’s productivity and income as well as enhancing welfare directly. To enable women engage in productive income-generating activities the Better Life Programme provided necessary resources, in the form of finance, credit and equipment.