The Impact of Women Empowerment Programme on Poverty Reduction in Bauchi State- Nigeria

Abstract

This paper analyzed the Impact of Woman Empowerment Programme on Poverty Reduction in Bauchi State, Nigeria. The study relied on primary data, a total of 540 questionnaires was administered out of which 510 was returned and analyzed. An in-depth interview (IDI) which involved 15 men and 15 women, was also conducted to complement the survey instrument (questionnaire). Empirical and theoretical literature were reviewed, questionnaire and in-depth interview were used for data collection and the data were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software, the variables used are marital status, level of
income and level of education. With regard to the findings of the study, evidence from data analyses show that the results of the study are supportive of the major assumptions made at the beginning of the study and also support some of the literature that were reviewed. The results of the study show that the higher the level of women empowerment, the lower the level of poverty in the state. The study concludes that women empowerment creates powerful influence on community, family and nation at large, it also revealed that income and education level have significant relationship with poverty reduction. The study recommends reorientation of men’s mind set on women’s empowerment and participation could greatly enhance women’s empowerment, also the empowering agents (Government, Non- Governmental Organisations, individuals) should create necessary awareness on the availability of the existing empowerment initiative so that women can take advantage of their initiatives to empower themselves.