CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

A livelihood comprises the capabilities, assets and activities that people use to make a living. For rural women in Nigeria it typically rests on farming, fish and food processing, petty trading and craft work, often combined with unpaid household and care work. Rural women generally have less schooling than men, less access to land, credit and markets, and heavier domestic duties, which restrict their ability to improve their livelihoods. Education is widely seen as a route out of these constraints. Awopetu (2025) concludes that economic empowerment through education is a key to women’s liberation, and that cultural values and practices that restrict women’s education must change. Obiagu (2023) similarly treats women’s education and economic empowerment as central to gender equality in Nigeria.

Adult education addresses the needs of women who missed schooling. It comprises basic literacy, post-literacy, continuing education and vocational training. In Nigeria, the National Commission for Mass Literacy, Adult and Non-Formal Education (NMEC) coordinates such programmes together with State Agencies. Ali (2024) presents adult education as an alternative option for accelerated socio-economic development of Nigeria. The Fifth Global Report on Adult Learning and Education stresses its role in enabling adults to participate in social, economic and civic life (UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning [UIL], 2022), and the Marrakech Framework for Action commits states to widening access for disadvantaged groups (UNESCO, 2022).

Evidence from other African contexts supports the potential of adult education for rural women’s livelihoods. A recent study in southern Ethiopia found that adult education significantly enhances rural women’s economic agency by equipping them with literacy, entrepreneurial and financial-management skills, while also identifying barriers and recommending culturally responsive curricula, expanded rural education infrastructure and vocational integration such as agribusiness and handicrafts (Barasa et al., 2026). In Nigeria, Ukwueze (2022) examines how social inclusion and other economic and non-economic factors shape women’s entrepreneurship, and Babajide et al. (2023) link financial literacy and capabilities to business practice among small business owners. Awoniyi and Aromolaran (2025) find that vocational education can equip people with the skills for lasting income, although funding, infrastructure and policy weaknesses limit its effect.

For Akwa Ibom State specifically, Ekpo et al. (2024) surveyed nine centres, three from each senatorial district, drawn from the State’s 888 adult education centres. They report that adult education has a significant and direct impact on entrepreneurial sustainable development in the State by building individual skills and knowledge for small and medium enterprises and self-empowerment, and creating employment opportunities. They also identify inadequate funding, policy inconsistency, lack of teachers’ qualification, low enrolment and lack of learning materials and infrastructure as weaknesses. That study addressed all learners in general terms; it did not focus on rural women or on NMEC vocational and continuing education programmes, nor measure livelihood outcomes.

The evidence is nonetheless mixed. Kolawole and Pusoetsile (2022) found no significant difference in literacy attainment between participants and non-participants in an adult basic education programme in rural Botswana, while Nkansah (2022) found that adult literacy in rural Ghana did not necessarily lead to community development. Belete et al. (2022) report that reported outcomes of African community learning centres include economic empowerment, but also that participation among vulnerable groups is low. Whether NMEC vocational and continuing education programmes actually improve the livelihood of rural women in Akwa Ibom therefore needs to be tested. This study does so in three rural Local Government Areas, one from each senatorial district: Ibiono Ibom, Essien Udim and Onna.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

NMEC vocational and continuing education programmes are intended to give rural women skills and knowledge to raise their incomes, diversify their activities and reduce poverty. In Akwa Ibom State, many rural women depend on subsistence farming, petty trading and processing, often on a very small scale, and there is public expectation that adult education will improve these livelihoods.

However, there is little evidence on whether the programmes have actually improved the livelihoods of the rural women who take part. Available studies of adult education in the State report broadly positive effects on entrepreneurship, but also weaknesses in funding, facilitators, materials and infrastructure (Ekpo et al., 2024). Evidence from elsewhere shows that literacy or training does not automatically yield economic benefits (Kolawole & Pusoetsile, 2022; Nkansah, 2022) and that social and economic constraints limit women’s enterprise (Ukwueze, 2022). Rural women may also face barriers such as household duties, distance, lack of capital and cultural restrictions (Barasa et al., 2026; Awopetu, 2025).

Programme managers, the Akwa Ibom State Agency for Adult and Non-Formal Education, NMEC and partners cannot tell which components improve rural women’s livelihoods, which do not, and what additional support is needed. The problem of this study is therefore the lack of empirical evidence on the role of NMEC vocational and continuing education programmes in improving the livelihood of rural women in Ibiono Ibom Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.

1.3 Objectives of the Study

The main objective of the study is to determine the role of adult education in improving the livelihood of rural women in Ibiono Ibom Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State. The specific objectives are to:

1. determine the effect of the programmes on rural women’s income and savings;

2. assess the extent to which the programmes have improved the productivity and diversification of women’s livelihood activities;

3. examine the extent to which the programmes have improved women’s access to credit, markets and cooperatives;

4. assess the effect of the programmes on household welfare (food, health and children’s schooling); and

5. identify the challenges that limit the programmes’ contribution to rural women’s livelihoods and suggest ways of overcoming them.

1.4 Research Questions

1. What effect have the programmes had on rural women’s income and savings?

2. To what extent have the programmes improved the productivity and diversification of women’s livelihood activities?

3. To what extent have the programmes improved women’s access to credit, markets and cooperatives?

4. What effect have the programmes had on household welfare?

5. What challenges limit the programmes’ contribution to rural women’s livelihoods?

1.5 Research Hypotheses

The following null hypotheses were tested at the 0.05 level of significance:

H₀₁: NMEC vocational and continuing education programmes have no significant effect on the income of rural women in the study area.

H₀₂: The programmes have no significant effect on the productivity and diversification of rural women’s livelihood activities.

H₀₃: The programmes have no significant effect on rural women’s access to credit, markets and cooperatives.

H₀₄: There is no significant difference in the livelihood status of women who have completed the programmes and those who have not participated.

1.6 Significance of the Study

Rural women. The study will show which skills and forms of support best improve their livelihoods, helping them choose programmes wisely.

Programme managers and facilitators. They will obtain evidence for reviewing curricula and adding elements such as business management, financial literacy and cooperative formation.

Akwa Ibom State Agency for Adult and Non-Formal Education and NMEC. The findings can guide planning, resource allocation and monitoring, consistent with Ekpo et al.’s (2024) call for better funding, staff training and monitoring.

Development partners and microfinance institutions. They can design credit and training packages tailored to rural women.

Families and communities. Improved livelihoods for women raise household welfare and local economic activity.

1.7 Scope and Delimitation of the Study

The study is limited to rural women aged 18 years and above who are enrolled in or have completed NMEC vocational and continuing education programmes in Ibiono Ibom, Essien Udim and Onna Local Government Areas of Akwa Ibom State, together with facilitators and programme coordinators. It covers programmes run in the 2025/2026 session and completed in the previous three years. It focuses on livelihood outcomes (income, savings, productivity, diversification, access to credit and markets, and household welfare). It does not examine urban women or programmes outside NMEC’s vocational and continuing education framework.

1.8 Limitations of the Study

The study covers three rural LGAs and cannot be generalised to all rural women in Nigeria. Women may be reluctant to reveal income, and seasonal farm incomes vary, so respondents may find it difficult to state average earnings; the researcher used recall over the last agricultural season and confidentiality assurances. Respondents with limited literacy will have items read aloud in Ibibio, Annang or Pidgin. Livelihoods are influenced by factors beyond the programmes, such as prices, weather and household composition, so the study can establish association and perceived effect more confidently than strict causation.

1.9 Operational Definition of Terms

Adult education: organised learning for adults outside the formal school system, including literacy, continuing education and vocational training.

NMEC vocational and continuing education programmes: skills-training and continuing-education programmes coordinated by NMEC and delivered through the Akwa Ibom State Agency for Adult and Non-Formal Education and partners.

Livelihood: the means by which women earn a living, including farming, processing, trading and crafts, and the assets and capabilities they use.

Rural woman: a woman living in a village or settlement outside urban centres and depending mainly on agriculture and small-scale activities.

Household welfare: the state of a household’s food supply, health and children’s schooling.

Income: money earned per month or season from all productive activities, measured in naira.

References

Ali, M. A. (2024). Adult education as an alternative option for accelerated socio-economic development of Nigeria. Journal of Continuing and Development Education, 4(1), 183–197. https://journalcde.com/index.php/jcde/article/view/123

Awoniyi, B. K., & Aromolaran, O. F. (2025). Vocational education: Key to provision of specialised occupation for self-reliance in Nigeria. Euro Global Contemporary Studies Journal, 5(3), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15667534

Awopetu, A. (2025). Educational and economic empowerment of women for sustainable development in Nigeria. International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, 9(3), 5287–5293.

Babajide, A., Osabuohien, E., Tunji-Olayeni, P., Falola, H., Amodu, L., Olokoyo, F., & Ehikioya, B. (2023). Financial literacy, financial capabilities, and sustainable business model practice among small business owners in Nigeria. Journal of Sustainable Finance & Investment, 13(4), 1670–1692.

Barasa, A. H., Mekuria, Y. S., Golga, D. N., et al. (2026). Adult education skills acquisition and the economic empowerment of rural women in Southern Ethiopia. Discover Education. https://doi.org/10.1007/s44217-026-01948-2

Belete, S., Duke, C., Hinzen, H., et al. (2022). Community learning centres (CLCs) for adult learning and education (ALE): Development in and by communities. International Review of Education, 68. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11159-022-09954-w

Ekpo, M. E., Umoh, U. E., & Udoaka, S. P. (2024). Adult education and entrepreneurial sustainable development in Nigeria: A study of Akwa Ibom State Agency for Adult and Non-Formal Education (2007–2023). Covenant Journal of Entrepreneurship, 8(1), 44–54. https://journals.covenantuniversity.edu.ng/index.php/cjoe/article/view/4183

Kolawole, O. D., & Pusoetsile, T. (2022). What difference does literacy make among adult learners? Impact of adult basic education programme in a rural community in Botswana. Journal of Adult and Continuing Education, 28(1), 227–251. https://doi.org/10.1177/14779714211007495

Nkansah, T. (2022). The role of adult literacy in community development in Ghana: Perceptions and experiences of two rural communities. The International Journal of Community and Social Development, 4(3). https://doi.org/10.1177/25166026221110728

Obiagu, A. N. (2023). Do women’s education and economic empowerment reduce gender-based violence in Nigeria? Journal of International Women’s Studies, 25(4), Article 12.

Ukwueze, E. R. (2022). Women and entrepreneurship in Nigeria: What role does social inclusion play? Journal of International Women’s Studies, 23(5), Article 4.

UNESCO. (2022). Marrakech Framework for Action: Harnessing the transformational power of adult learning and education (Seventh International Conference on Adult Education). UNESCO.

UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning. (2022). 5th global report on adult learning and education: Citizenship education – Empowering adults for change. UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning.