Influence of Traditional Beliefs on Agricultural Activities of Women in Ogbia Local Government Area, Bayelsa State

Abstract

The study investigated the traditional beliefs in Ogbia, and how they influence the agricultural activities of women in the area. It determined the nature and forms of these traditional beliefs, and their influence on the women involved in agriculture. A sample of 200 women were randomly selected from ten communities . The instrument for data collection was a 24 item questionnaire, titled, the influence of traditional beliefs on agricultural activities of women in Ogbia, its face validity was done by two experts in the field of community development, while a reliability coefficient of 0.75 was established using Cronbach Alpha test. 200 copies of it, were distributed to elicit responses from the respondents, while 187 copies were received and used for data analysis, using percentage and mean. The study, revealed that. Ogbia women are very religious: 85.03% and 14.97% are Christians and traditional worshipers respectively. It discovered that most women are into farming mainly to feed the family. It was also found that, traditional beliefs in Ogbia, prevent women from growing certain crops ,fishing in “certain” lakes, processing of some crops , farming on days regarded as sacred and taking part in some farm activities like land preparation. . The study revealed a significant negative relationship between traditional beliefs and agricultural activities of women. It was recommended that women’s access to production resources such as land, credit and appropriate technologies, be improved so as to enhance their capacity in food production among others.