Fish Farming Business. A Panacea to Rural Women’s Economic Empowerment in Nigeria

The objective of this project is to introduce, train and equip rural women in the Bende area of south-east Nigeria in aquaculture as an alternative means of livelihood and economic diversification, using an entrepreneurship approach. The overall goal is to alleviate rural poverty through the core objectives of increasing household income, food security, diversifying nutrition and agriculture, and increasing gender equality within rural communities through entrepreneurial empowerment of women aquaculturalists/ agriculturalists. The project will also support mitigation of water scarcity and provide access to clean, potable water. Despite women accounting for up to 70% of agricultural activities, cultural and religious perceptions, as well as other socioeconomic factors have pushed Nigerian women towards smallholder-level subsistence farming in an otherwise broad and diverse agricultural system. Gender inequality is rampant in the rural areas of Nigeria and has proven to be a considerable barrier for poverty alleviation and rural development in the country. The rural women of Nigeria should be able to earn a real income from their time and labor, one that provides decision-making power over financial matters within their households. On successful completion and implementation of the project, it will have trained and empowered at least 50 women heads of household in aquaculture, contributed to their and their rural community’s poverty alleviation, and increased food security.