STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENT PROGRAMMES AND THE INFORMAL SECTOR: THE NIGERIAN ...

304 Pages·2009·13.42 MB·English

STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENT PROGRAMMES AND THE INFORMAL SECTOR:
THE NIGERIAN CASE OF JOS WOMEN
by
Agatha Ifeyinwa Nnazor
B.Sc. (Hon.), Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Nigeria, 1986
MA, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada , 1993
A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF
THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE DEGREE OF
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
in
THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES
(Department of Anthropology and Sociology)
We accept this thesis as conforming
to the required standard
The University of British Columbia
November, 1999
©Agatha Ifeyinwa Nnazor, 1999
In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced
degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it
freely available for reference and study. I further agree that permission for extensive
copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the head of my
department or by his or her representatives. It is understood that copying or
publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written
permission.
Department of ArTrrnVDJ)p\fjv| Q. -Skxilol^tJ
The University of British Columbia
Vancouver, Canada
Date
DE-6 (2/88)
ABSTRACT
This study describes and analyzes the impact of Structural Adjustment Programmes
(S APs) on the Jos women in the informal sector, as well as the strategies women adopt to
ensure the survival of their businesses and families. Studies that have investigated the impact
of SAP on women in the informal sector tend to take a rather disparate approach. Against
this background, the present study develops a coherent conceptual framework for
understanding the impact of SAPs on women in the sector.
From an interview survey conducted with one hundred and fifty (150) Jos women in
the informal urban sector, the study elicited data on the activities of the women and the ways
SAPs affect their access to productive and reproductive resources, as well as on the
responses of the women to SAPs-engendered socio-economic hardships. The data reveal that
the Jos women engage in numerous income-generating activities, mostly in small-scale, low-
income circulatory and service activities which are largely marginalized and bereft of
institutionalized resources. In addition to their productive and income-generating activities,
the Jos women perform the bulk of the reproductive and domestic work necessary for the
support of the family. As well, the women perform some extra-household work for the
welfare of the community and environment. The study shows that the Jos women are
adversely affected by SAPs. Structural Adjustment Programmes are further limiting their
access to business commodities, credit, stalls, information and training, food, healthcare,
education and transportation facilities. Consequently, women are finding it difficult to
maintain their businesses and families. Amidst the adverse effects of SAPs, the women are
resiliently and innovatively responding to SAPs through numerous business and familial
survival strategies. In addition to the responses of the Jos women, the Nigerian State, is
ii
attempting to reduce poverty among women through its various women-centered
programmes.
The study attributes the adverse and limiting effects of SAPs on the Jos women's
access to resources to a number of forces. These include (a) the Nigerian limited and
discriminatory opportunity structures which predispose women to the largely marginalized
informal activities, (b) the small-scale and low-income nature of women's informal
activities, (c) the unequal and exploitative relationship between the informal and formal
sectors in which women provide consumer goods at low-cost for the regeneration of
capitalist labour, (d) the circulatory and service nature of women's informal activities, (e)
the gender- and class-biased structures inherent in SAPs, as well as in SAPs' implementing
mechanisms and institutions and (f) women's altruistic and selfless attitudes.
The study observes that the responses of both the Jos women and the Nigerian State
to SAPs-engendered hardships are, at best, palliative or even cosmetic. The responses do not
address the strategic needs of women. Hence the study makes a case for a transformatory
strategy through the empowerment of women.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS iv
LIST OF TABLES vii
LIST OF FIGURES viii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ix
GLOSSARY: LISTS OF NATIVE WORDS xii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT xv
DEDICATION xvi
CHAPTER 1 1
INTRODUCTION 1
Nigerian Economic Crisis and Structural Adjustment Programmes: An
Overview 3
Aim of the Study 10
Research Problem 10
Research Questions 14
Significance of the Study 14
Structure of the Thesis 16
CHAPTER 2 17
THE IMPACT OF SAPs ON THIRD WORLD WOMEN: A LITERATURE
REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 17
Research/Case Studies 18
Women's Work: Production, Reproduction and Community
Organization 19
The Informal Sector 27
Oppression and Resistance 31
A Theoretical Framework for the Study 35
Third World Underdeveloped Capitalist Economy: Primary Product
Dependency 36
Third World Underdeveloped Capitalist Economy: Narrow-industrial
Base with Limited and Discriminatory Opportunity Structure 37
Third World Underdeveloped Capitalist Economy: Dependence on
Agriculture 57
The Informal Sector Environment 61
The Structural Adjustment Regime 74
SAP Implementing Mechanisms and Institutions 82
Women's Attitudes and Behavioural Patterns 89
Summary and Theoretical Framework for the Study 92
iv
CHAPTER 3 97
RESEARCH CONTEXT AND PROCEDURE 97
Research Setting 97
Research Methodology 99
Data Collection and Analysis 101
Limitations of the Study 108
CHAPTER 4 109
THE INFORMALIZATION OF NIGERIAN WOMEN'S WORK: AN
HISTORICAL OVERVIEW 109
Nigerian Women and Work in the Pre-colonial Era 109
Nigerian Women and Work During the Colonial Era 117
Nigerian Women and Work in the Post-colonial Era 124
CHAPTER 5 133
THE WORK OF THE JOS WOMEN 133
The Jos Women and Work in the Informal Sector 133
Factors that Influence the Involvement of the Jos Women in the
Informal Sector 139
Factors that Account for the Overrepresentation of the Jos Women in
Small-scale Informal Activities 147
The Jos Women and Reproductive and Community Activities 151
Constraints on the Jos Women in their Productive, Reproductive and
Community Roles 152
CHAPTER 6 155
THE IMPACT OF STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENT PROGRAMMES ON THE JOS
WOMEN'S ACCESS TO RESOURCES 155
The Impact of SAPs on the Jos Women's Access to Productive Resources 155
The Jos Women's Access to Business Wares and Services 155
The Jos Women's Access to Credit 164
The Jos Women's Access to Business Stalls/Stores 168
The Jos Women's Access to Business Information and Training 174
The Impact of SAPs on Jos Women's Access to Reproductive Resources 177
CHAPTER 7 188
RESPONSES TO STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENT PROGRAMMES 188
The Jos Women's Responses to SAPs 188
Nigerian State's Response to SAP: State-Initiated Women Centres 198
The Women's Development Unit/Division 200
The Better Life For Rural Women (Dwellers) Programme (BLP) 201
The National Commission for Women (NCW) 203
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CHAPTER 8 210
STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENT PROGRAMMES AND CIVIL SOCIETY: A
SILENT OMEN 210
SAP, Democracy and Civil Society 210
Nigerian Political Context and State 213
Nigerian Civic Organizations 220
Trade/Labour Union: The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) 220
Professional Associations 221
Human Rights and Pro-democracy Movements 222
Women's Organizations/Associations 223
SAP, the Jos Women and Civil Society 232
CHAPTER 9 243
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 243
REFERENCES 252
APPENDICES 270
APPENDIX Al: Map of Nigeria Showing Jos, the Research Setting 270
APPENDIX A2: Jos Main Market 272
APPENDIX B: Letter from Agatha Nnazor to Respondents 274
APPENDIX C: Letter from Dr. Dawn Currie, "To Whom it May Concern." 275
APPENDIX D: Informed Consent Form 276
APPENDIX E: Interview Schedule 278
vi
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Industrial Structure of Seventeen Developing Countries, the United States and
United Kingdom* 39
Table 2: Ratio of Women's Wages to Men's in Non-Agricultural Employment, 1987-1992
in Some Selected LDCs and MDC's * 41
Table 3: Percentage of Adult Men and Women (Ages 15 +) in Some Selected Developing
Regions who are literate, 1990* 51
Table 4: The Fertility Rate of the World, Regions and Sub-regions, 1995* 54
Table 5: Population, Labour Force, and Production in Developed and Less Developed
Regions, 1992* 59
Table 6: The Neo-classical/liberal Basis of Structural Adjustment Programmes* 75
Table 7: Selection of 70 Respondents According to Main Occupation 105
Table 8: Nigerian Secondary School Enrollments by Gender, 1975-1987* 1 25
Table 9: Nigerian Universities - Total Enrollment by Gender, 1980-1988* 1 26
Table 10: Federal Established Staff: Selected Professional and Scientific Officers by Gender,
1980* 128
Table 11: Agricultural Earnings in Nigeria, 1960-1982* 131
Table 12: Occupational Distribution of Respondents and Husbands 134
Table 13: Women's Participation in Urban Informal Activities* 135
Table 14: Husbands' Labour Force Participation in the Informal and Formal Sectors.... 1 36
Table 15: Annual Income of Respondents and Husbands (in Nigerian Currency, Naira - N)
139
Table 16: Professional Group of Formally Employed Respondents and Husbands 142
Table 17: Educational Level of Respondents 144
Table 18: Ethnic Groups of Respondents in the Jos Urban Informal Sector 149
Table 19: Nigerian General Price Index: Urban and Rural Areas, 1986-1994 1 57
Table 20: Effects of SAP-engendered Rising Prices of Business Wares (Goods, Materials)
and Services on the Jos Women's Business Operations* 1 58
Table 21: Market Survey of Some Selected Foodstuffs in 1985 and 1997 (all prices are
expressed in Nigerian Currency, Naira, N) 1 80
Table 22: Number of Hours spent by the Respondent on Informal Activities 233
Table 23: Respondents' Leisure Time 233
Table 24: Number of Hours Spent by Respondents on Domestic Activities 234
Table 25: Number of Hours Spent by Respondents on Community Activities 234
vii
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: A Framework for Understanding the Impact of Structural Adjustment
Programmes on Women in the Informal Sector
viii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
AOWA Army Officers Wives Association
AS SU Academic Staff Union of Nigerian Universities
BARC Brewery Agro Research Company
BLP Better Life for Rural Dweller' s/Women's Programmes
B.Sc. Bachelor of Science
CIU Campaign for Independent Unionism
COWAN Country Women Association of Nigeria
CWA Campaign for Workers Alternative
DFRRI Directorate for Food, Road and Rural Infrastructures
ECA Economic Commission for Africa
FAO Food and Agricultural Organization
FMWAN Federation of Muslim Women's Associations of Nigeria
UND Higher National Diploma
HNC Higher National Certificate of Education
HSC Higher School Certificate
ILO International Labor Organization/Office
IMF International Monetary Fund
INSTRAW International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of
Women
IS Informal Sector
ISSSA Iron and Steel Senior Staff Association
ITF Industrial Training Fund
JIB Jos International Breweries Limited
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