Astudy on entrepreneurship skill practices among rural women in Kwara state, Nigeria

Abstract

Abstract. The study examined the entrepreneurial skill practices of rural women in Kwara State, Nigeria. A total of 147 respondents were selected. Primary data were collected with the use of questionnaire. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were employed for the study. Mean age of respondents was 38.5 years. The average entrepreneurship experience was 11 years. The most prominent enterprises undertaken by respondents were garri processing (83.7%), corn milling (82.3%), soap making (82.3%), livestock production (81.6%), selling of provision/petty trade (80.3%), grinding pepper (78.2%), tailoring (76.9%), selling of pepper (71.4%), and poultry farming (64.6%). Commonly practiced entrepreneurial skills were communication skills (74.1%), creative thinking skills (72.8%), time management skills (70.1%), decision making and risk management skills (68.0%) and organizational management (61.2%). Most indicated constraints faced were high interest on loan (70.8%), poor road structure (67.3%), high cost of input (66.0%), lack of storage facilities (63.9), poor electricity supply (62.0%), lack of production materials (61.2%) and environmental factors (60.5%). Findings also show that age, marital status, household size and years of experience of respondents had positive significant influence on entrepreneurial skills practised at p<0.01 level of significance. The study concluded that communication skills, creative thinking skills, and time management skills were most practised by rural women entrepreneurs in Kwara State. The study recommends the need for rural women entrepreneurs to form strong credit cooperative society in other to empower themselves financially as well as easy procurement of inputs at cheaper rate