Rural Women's Involvement in Entrepreneurship in Sukur World Heritage Site, Adamawa State, Nigeria

Abstract

Sukur, a World Heritage Site and the first in Nigeria, is a hilltop settlement where women engage in terrace subsistence farming to support their families. The new status of Sukur as World Heritage Site is attracting local and foreign visitors who are interested in local cuisines and buying iof souvenirs to take back home. Skill acquisition and entrepreneurship development centre was established in Shuwa located in Madagali Local Government Council in Bornu State of Nigeria, by funds from UNDP to empower women especially and youths. This is with a view to earning income from heightened numbers of visitors. This paper investigated the involvement of women and their attitude towards entrepreneurial activities. In Nigeria, men assume the role of bread winners, while women were usually restricted to care for the home front. Consequently, the attitude of men (husbands) in involving their women in economic activities was determined. The relationship between the level of women involvement in Entrepreneurship and their socio-economic characteristic and that of their husbands were also established. One hundred rural women and a proportional one hundred husbands from ten (10) clans in Maidagali Local Government Council were selected employing random sampling method. A pre-tested structured questionnaire and focus group discussion were used to collect relevant information from respondents. The variables were measured using 5-likert scale. The study revealed that the new status of Sukur contributed significantly to the positive disposition of women towards entrepreneurial activities, so also was their husbands’ attitude towards the involvement of these women in entrepreneurial activities. The study concluded that women in Sukur World Heritage Sites, if properly motivated and entrepreneurially trained can earn foreign exchange from local and foreign visitors by selling local cuisines, souvenirs, and crafts, and also solve unemployment challenges.