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The purpose of this paper is to critically examine the multinational oil companies’ (MOCs) corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives in Nigeria. Its special focus is to investigate the impact of the global memorandum of understanding (GMoU) on capacity development for small-scale women entrepreneurs in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria.

This paper adopts a survey research technique, aimed at gathering information from a representative sample of the population, as it is essentially cross-sectional, describing and interpreting the current situation. A total of 768 women respondents were sampled across the rural areas of the Niger Delta region in Nigeria.

The results from the use of a combined propensity score matching and logit model indicate that though, a meagre part of the CSR intervention is targeted specifically for capacity empowerment of women, the CSR of the MOCs using the GMoU model has recorded little but significant success in building capacity of women in the areas of enhancing educational status, reduction in socio-economic barriers, access to credit, starting personal business enterprises, undertaking paid employment and generally enhancing means of livelihoods.

This suggests that if CSR interventions are not tailored to enhanced opportunities for women, they may contribute towards reducing the participation of women in economic, political and social development and, by extension, damping efforts of reducing poverty and achieving the sustainable development goals in the Niger Delta.

This implies that the private sector, generally, can play an important role in addressing some of the logistical and cultural challenges that face rural women, and promote gender diversity and more equal access to economic opportunity through the CSR programmes in host communities.

This research contributes to the inequality debate in small-scale entrepreneurship and inclusive growth literature from the CSR perspective. It concludes that business has an obligation to help in solving problems of public concern.

The purpose of this paper is to critically examine the multinational oil companies’ (MOCs) corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives in Nigeria. Its special focus is to investigate the impact of the global memorandum of understanding (GMoU) on improving gender responsiveness of the cassava value chain (CVC) in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria.

This paper adopts a survey research technique, aimed at gathering information from a representative sample of the population, as it is essentially cross-sectional, describing and interpreting the current situation. A total of 780 rural women respondents were sampled across the Niger Delta region.

The results from the use of a combined logit model and propensity score matching indicate that CSR of the MOCs using the GMoU model has recorded little but significant success in enhancing rural women’s participation in the CVC in the Niger Delta.

This implies that if CSR interventions are not tailored to enhance opportunities for women, they may contribute towards reducing the participation of women in economic, political and social development and, by extension, damping efforts of reducing poverty and achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs) in the Niger Delta.

This suggests that MOCs’ CSR interventions in the CVC should consider gender relations to benefit men and women and alleviate household poverty.

This research contributes to the inequality debate in the agrifood value chain and inclusive growth literature from the CSR perspective in developing countries and the rationale for demand for social projects by host communities. It concludes that businesses has an obligation to help in solving problems of public concern.

The purpose of this paper is to critically examine the National Home Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP) in Nigeria. Its special focus is to investigate the impact of NHGSFP on rural communities in Nigeria.

This paper adopts a survey research technique, aimed at gathering information from a representative sample of the population, as it is essentially cross-sectional, describing and interpreting the current situation. A total of 2,400 households were sampled across the six geopolitical regions of Nigeria.

The results from the use of a combined propensity score matching and logit model indicate that NHGSFP makes significant contributions to improving the health and educational status of rural school children, stimulates job creation and boosts rural economy.

This implies that a well-designed and integrated Home Grown School Feeding Programme (HGSFP) can make significant contributions to improving food security at the household level, spurring job creation and boosting agricultural markets.

This suggests the need for a purposeful engagement and support from all stakeholders to ensure the success of HGSFP.

This research adds to the literature on school feeding in low-income countries. It concludes that school feeding programmes have been shown to directly increase the educational and nutritional status of recipient children and indirectly impact the economic and social lives of themselves and their family.

The purpose of this paper is critically examine the Nigeria for Women Project (NFWP) initiatives in Nigeria. Its special focus is to investigate the impact of NFWP on social cohesion in entrepreneurship development in Nigeria.

This paper adopts a quasi-experimental research design to address the scarcity of quantitative studies on women’s groups in Nigeria. A total of 2,400 respondents were sampled across the rural areas of the six geographical regions of the country.

Results from the use of a combined propensity score matching and logit model indicate that though scrimpy, the NFWP intervention targeted specifically for the empowerment of women, using the women’s affinity group model has recorded significant set up in improving women’s formation of social capital through advocacy, awareness creation, provision of credit, training of women on skill acquisition, among other activities.

This suggests that an increase in NFWP budget that seeks to expand participation of women in women’s groups, targeted at increasing women’s social cohesion, especially in the rural communities will help lift women and girls out of poverty in the country.

It implies that women’s groups that serve as production cooperatives, saving associations and marketing groups can enhance women’s performance in entrepreneurship development and boost rural economy production in Nigeria.

This research contributes to the growing field of female entrepreneurial collaboration by proposing the moderation of social cohesion as a means to sustain agriculture and rural development in developing countries. It concludes that targeting women’s groups should form the foundation of public policy for social cohesion in women’s entrepreneurship development for rural economy.