TITLE:
Quality of Life of Rural Women and Government Intervention Programmes in Ondo State, Nigeria
AUTHORS:
Justina Olufunke Aruna, Femi Tinuola, Sunday Olugbenga Olaseinde
KEYWORDS:
Quality of Life, Government Intervention Schemes/Programmes, Caring Heart, Rural Women
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.13 No.2,
February
26,
2025
ABSTRACT: Quality of life (QOL) as the total well-being of individuals and societies, is a multi-faceted phenomenon determined by the cumulative and interactive impact of many and varying factors such as housing conditions, infrastructure, access to social amenities, income, standard of living, and overall satisfaction about the physical and social environment. Since women constitute a greater proportion of the population in Nigeria-about 49.99% and three-quarters of those who live in abject poverty, globally, are in rural areas of which the majority are women. The study, therefore, focuses on the QOL of rural women and government’s intervention programmes in Ondo State, Nigeria, during the Olusegun Mimiko-led administration. The study was carried out in 18 purposively selected villages from the 18 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Ondo State, using a multi-stage sampling technique with copies of Structured Questionnaires Schedule (QS) administered to 1800 respondents. In-depth interviews (IDIs) were also conducted on some women alongside the questionnaire schedule to complement the quantitative data. Findings show that only a quarter of the women benefitted from any of the government intervention schemes (26.4%) while the majority did not (73.6%). The study recommends that scheme/programmes such as “Abiye” Safe Motherhood and the Mother and Child Hospital should be sited in all four senatorial districts across the State. Government should provide targeted support through low-interest loans and micro-credit schemes to help women invest in their agricultural and trading activities. Community-based monitoring systems and regular evaluations will help assess the impact of these programmes on poverty reduction and women’s empowerment in rural Ondo State.