Impact of SEEFOR-Fadama Project on Poverty Alleviation of Rural Women of Rivers State Nigeria

This study assessed the impact of the SEEFOR project on the poverty alleviation of indigenous women of Rivers State, Nigeria. The socio-economic characteristics of the rural women were described, impact of the project on assets ownership and income of women were assessed and the effect of the project on the rural women’s socio-economic status was determined. A null hypothesis stating that, there is no significant difference in the income of the rural women before and after participating in the project was tested. A multi-stage sampling procedure was employed for data collection. Structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 238 rural women. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data collected. Results showed that a majority (79%) of the women were farmers, had small enterprises (72.7%), had 11 years of experience, 74% used leased land for business, only 5% had access to a credit facility, all (100%) were members of a cooperative society, 64.7% were co-contributors with husband for family upkeep. There was a positive 48.3% and 44.5% increment in the number of women who owned assets such as a good house and television after the project respectively. It was found that there was a 72.35% increase in the mean monthly income of rural women. Generally, the project improved the living condition of the rural women. The perceived effects of the project on women’s socio-economic status were; increased decision-making power at home (3.88) and improvement in the contribution of children’s education/community development (3.87). The study concludes, that the project has relatively reduced the poverty of rural women in the study area as there was a significant increment (72.35%) in the monthly income of the women. It was recommended that policies should be put in place to enhance women’s access to credit facilities and that more projects designed at alleviating poverty in Rivers State should target rural women