Corporate social responsibility and the role of rural women in sustainable agricultural development in sub‐Saharan Africa: Evidence from the Niger Delta in Nigeria

Abstract

Low productivity among female farmers when compared with their male counterparts is considered an outcome of limited access to agricultural land and inputs. The objective of this investigation was to assess the impact of multinational oil companies' (MOCs') corporate social responsibility (CSR) on rural women's access to modern agricultural inputs in the Niger Delta, Nigeria. A total of 700 rural female farmers were sampled across the region. Results from the use of a logit model indicated that CSR recorded significant success in agricultural development generally, but has undermined equality. This implies that if a woman's agricultural productivity is continuously hindered by unequal access to agricultural resources (or opportunities) and widespread inequality will limit poverty reduction efforts in Nigeria. The results also showed that women depended on CSR of MOCs for policy dialogue and advocacy for women's access to agricultural land and inputs. Supporting agricultural initiatives that focus on empowering women would boost food security in sub‐Saharan Africa.

How enhancing gender inclusion affects inequality: Thresholds of complementary policies for sustainable development

“…Third, to the best of our knowledge, the contemporary literature on gender inclusion has focused on, inter alia, the nexus between financial inclusion and mobile money in SSA with a moderating role of gender and social networks (Bongomin, Ntayi, Munene, & Malinga, 2018), the participation of rural women in information technology programmes for agricultural development (Uduji & Okolo-Obasi, 2018, 2019a, 2019bUduji, Okolo-Obasi, & Asongu, 2019); gender gap prevalence in financial inclusion (Kairiza, Kiprono, & Magadzire, 2017), the importance of gender in science education (Elu, 2018), a model for the analysis of gender within the informal and financial productive sectors (Bayraktar & Fofack, 2018), the nexus between gender inequality and access to microfinance (Mannah-Blankson, 2018), the importance of gender in sustainable agricultural production (Theriault, Smale, & Haider, 2017), and the role of ICT in gender inclusion (Efobi et al, 2018).…”

Sustainable development: Does improvement in education and health of women improve female labour force participation rate?

“…Over the last 27 years, female labour force participation rate was at its highest in 2017 with a value of 50.43 and at its lowest in 1999 with a value of 47.21. In the agricultural sector, women constitute about half of the 1 SDG 1-no poverty; SDG 2-zero hunger; SDG 3-good health and well-being; SDG 4-quality education; SDG 5-gender equality; SDG 6-clean water and sanitation; SDG 7-affordable and clean energy; SDG 8-decent work and economic growth; SDG 9-industry, innovation, and infrastructure; SDG 10-reduced inequalities; SDG 11-sustainable cities and communities; SDG 12-responsible consumption and production; SDG 13-climate action; SDG 14life below water; SDG 15-life on land; SDG 16-peace, justice, and strong institutions; SDG 17-partnerships for the goals labour force but produce less per hectare compared with men (Uduji et al, 2019). These are clear indications that a gender gap still exists in Nigeria as far as participation rate is concerned.…”

“…The rate of increase of women in the paid labour force has been a topic of discussion among development economists across the globe. A look at the global trend shows that there are variances in the level of access women have to the labour market (Uduji, Okolo-Obasi, & Asongu, 2019;Verick, 2014). The participation rate gap between women and men widens up in emerging countries but narrows down in developed countries (International Labour Organization [ILO], 2016).…”

Building Knowledge-Based Economies in Africa: A Systematic Review of Policies and Strategies

“…In the light of the above, ICT has recently been documented to contribute to sustainable and inclusive human development, in terms of: gender empowerment (Maurer 2008;Efobi et al 2018;Asongu and Odhiambo 2018a;Uduji and Okolo-Obasi 2018aAsongu and Boateng 2018;Uduji et al 2019); boosting of financial inclusion (Kirui et al, 2013;Singh, 2012); access to health care from the population in the low socio-economic strata (see Kliner et al 2013;Odhiambo 2019a, 2019b); mitigation of the developmental divide between urban and rural areas (Chan & Jia, 2011); purging of agricultural wastes as well as demand-and supply-side constraints/mismatches (Muto and Yamano 2009;Aker and Fafchamps 2010); consolidation of business opportunities, especially for small and medium sized corporations (Mishra and Bisht 2013;Nour 2018) As substantiated by Asongu (2017b), integrating the three areas of policy measures within a complementary framework has been fundamental to South Korea's successful ICT strategy.…”