Empowering Rural Women through Agripreneurship
A Pathway to Job Creation and Economic sustainability
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14500/kujhss.v9n2y2026.pp615-622Keywords:
Agripreneurship, Women Empowerment, Capability Approach, RWAEI, Poverty AlleviationAbstract
This study introduces the Rural Women Agripreneurship Empowerment Index (RWAEI), a comprehensive tool designed to evaluate the empowerment outcomes associated with agripreneurial activities among rural women in conflict-affected regions of Northeastern Nigeria. It investigates the roles of access to mechanization, agricultural production, employment of hired labor, and market participation in fostering long-term economic inclusion, enhancing decision-making power, and promoting community leadership, alongside generating employment opportunities. The framework is grounded in Sen's Capability Approach and Gendered Institutions Theory. Employing confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), mediation analysis, and structural equation modeling (SEM), the research validates the empowerment pathways and constructs the RWAEI model based on data collected from 1,146 rural women across Gombe, Bauchi, and Adamawa states. The findings reveal that the link between agripreneurship and empowerment is significantly mediated by factors such as labor employment and access to machinery. The index serves as a contextually relevant measure for assessing the agency and resilience of rural women, achieving a Cronbach's alpha of 0.812. The results support the integration of targeted capacity-building initiatives and gender-sensitive agricultural policies to enhance the impact of agribusiness endeavors. By transitioning from output-oriented models to assessments centered on capabilities, this study contributes to the discourse surrounding agripreneurship and holds significant implications for poverty reduction, post-conflict recovery efforts, and the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
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Copyright (c) 2026 Fidelis F. Ijanada, Mercy Adeyeye , Jacob A. Alabi
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