Determinants Of Participation For Women Farmers In Training Programs For Improving Production In The Central Division Of Fiji In Efforts To Poverty Reduction

Women contribute to almost half of the population for Fiji.The roles played by women in the economic sector,especially that of the agricultural sector generally goes unnoticed.The household responsibilities with additional duties of family care turn to overshadow the need for women farmer education.Hence,the lack of education leads to their diminished power of decision making regarding their farm productions and the use of resources.Due to gender inequalities like these that often then not is the contributing factor to women in poverty.Thus,the need for educating women farmers is a recommended form of raising farming awareness and empowerment amongst women,and the best way to educate farmers is through the provision of farmer-based training.However,designing and implementation of training programmes also have some conditions regarding its failure and success,and one of which is the participation of farmers.The need for knowing the determinant of women farmer participation in a programme designed for them is of utmost importance.Hence,this study aims to identify the determinants that influence women farmer participation in training programmes,which consequently affects their farm productions,while hindering poverty reduction efforts.The study was carried out in the Central Division of Fiji.At a random,120 women farmers were selected from the five provinces in the central divisions from which,60 farmers had attended some type of agricultural training,and the other 60 farmers had never participated in any form of agricultural training.The first part of the analysis for the study looks into the socio-economic and institutional characteristic of women and explains the percentage of women in each category of both trained and untrained.Additionally,the source of information gathering was also analysed,and it is found that women mostly received their information from extension workers or trainers.The preferred form of training,both for untrained and trained women farmers,was on new information.Further analysis is done on the primary types of challenges faced by women in their participation in training,and it is found that the most influencing problem was social norms.As for untrained women farmers,a separate analysis is done on their awareness of ongoing training,and the majority stated they did know of ongoing training,however,attending training is time-consuming and inefficient.Finally,a Logit model of analysis is used to explain the determinants that affect women participation the most in training programmes in Fiji.Considering the independent variables used to indicate the significant contributing factors influencing women participation in training,marital status,age,tertiary education,extension services,access to market and the size of owned land played active roles.More interestingly,the variables that played as insignificant influencers were the number of family members in the farmer household and the reason for farming.The next stage of analysis is done on the relationship between poverty reduction and training.The study helps explain how training benefits women,for instance,by providing the receiver with more option towards better judgement or as to how learning better practices help in improving productivity and in return,gaining more profit.Not only that,but training also provides an individual with an opportunity to be self-employed.Thus,reducing unemployment and poverty rate.Furthermore,the research also discusses on how to improve women participation while at the same time it debates the importance of correctly designing the programmes,the importance of asset ownership,decision-making ability and credit grant policies for women.Finally,the research examines the women farmers and their interest in agriculture,which all shall become a driving point for policymakers to pour more resources towards their development.It additionally,discusses how the results can be used to curve the policies around resource management such as time,place,extension services and market availability.Likewise,data on determinants such as the area of interest for training can help in developing a policy to boost the field of interest and the agricultural economy.In a circle,it can be stated that considering women farmers needs can greatly influence effective policies and agricultural growth.Hence,the need for policies and the impact of such research is discussed,bringing a conclusion to this thesis.