A Note on Economic Activity of Women in Nigeria

The aim of this article is to investigate some of the factors explaining the eoonomic activity of women in Nigeria, in particular, to examine the question of whether urbanisation is likely to lead to a "marginalisation" of women in Nigeria. Such a question would not normally be asked in most developing oountries because, since recorded female labour force participation is low in the rural areas of most countries, it could be expected that urbanisation would be associated with rising levels of female activity. However, a different situation exists in sub-Saharan Africa with female participation in the rural economy being strikingly high. 1 This is associated with a traditional division of labour which allocates prominent roles to women in subsistence agriCUlture and often in trading activities. This tradition is partly explained by the need for men to travel long distances to hunt or, in this century, increasingly to find wage earning activity.