Most scholars of female farmers of sub-Saharan Africa have come to agree that the transition from subsistence to market agriculture has hurt women's independent agricultural enterprises and incomes. Research conducted among a group of farmers known as the Kofyar of central Nigeria provides a case study which runs counter to this general consensus. Kofyar women have not suffered a loss of economic or social independence with the introduction of cash-cropping but have in fact embraced the new opportunities of the markets to produce crops for sale independently of their households. The Kofyar farming system as a whole is outlined, and the system of independent production is described within this context. The recent history of the Kofyar is sketched including, most importantly, their migration into an agricultural frontier, the adoption of yams as the primary cash crop, and the evolution of a complex set of mechanisms for mobilizing labor. The role of women in the cooperative labor network and in household labor is described and women's important contributions to all types of labor are linked to their access to labor for their own independent production. One of the basic arguments is that Kofyar women are prospering relative to other African women because their labor has been so crucial to the agriculture of the Kofyar both before and since the introduction of cash-cropping. The other basic argument for Kofyar women's relative success is that they are successfully exploiting the flexibility inherent in their farming system to maximize their own production. The use of intensive techniques such as intercropping and taking advantage of the flexibility in the timing of certain agricultural tasks on their major crops of groundnuts and yams are examples of this strategy. Women have, in other words, evolved a system of independent production which fits around rather than competes directly with male/household farming. The dissertation goes on to place women's independent farming within the broader social system by analyzing differences between women in marriage and childbearing statuses and histories. Regular differences in magnitude of independent production are found between women with contrasting social characteristics (e.g. age, marital status, divorce history, numbers of children). The portrait of the most prosperous woman is sketched. Kofyar women's activities are seen as an essential part of Kofyar development. The system in general has become more prosperous and women as important contributors to that prosperity are also benefiting as individuals from these changes.

This study examined the relationship between love attitude and marital adjustment across five stages of the marital life-cycle in Nigerian society. The subjects for this study were 202 volunteers from six protestant churches representing six cities in the southern part of Nigeria. An average of 20 couples were representatives of each of the five marital life-cycles. Each of the subjects completed the Love Attitude Inventory (LAI), and the Marital Adjustment Test (short form) (MAT). Wilk's multivariate analysis revealed no significant differences between husbands' and wives' love attitude and marital adjustment across the five stages of the marital life cycle. Multivariate analysis split-plot 5.2 with repeated measures revealed no significant difference for the total sample among the groups, but indicated a significant difference between love attitude and marital adjustment for the total sample using sex as a factor. A univariate test of the MAT and LAI indicated that the MAT accounted for the difference. A canonical correlation indicated a significant positive relationship between husbands1 and wives' marital adjustment and love attitude within each of the five groups. The findings suggest that husbands and wives included in this study have a good understanding of their roles in the marriage relationship and that the partners have general agreement regarding those roles. The marriage partners apparently have strong influences on each other's perceptions of love attitude and marital adjustment.

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 193-206) / This thesis describes a family variation among urban Nigerian couples called a commuter marriage. A commuter marriage in this study is defined as a union between a dual earner/dual career couple where the husband and wife have decided to live apart from each other due to work commitments until such a time as is convenient for them to live continuously together again. This separation is mainly undertaken to improve their financial and career prospects. The study seeks to understand what dynamics are involved in a commuter marriage in Jos, Plateau State. The Life Course Perspective, with a focus on the gendered life course perspective, serves as a theoretical framework for this study. The perspective assumes that families undergoing the same transitions are likely to display the same characteristics which may not be necessarily relevant for all families in the same life stage, while the gendered life course perspective acknowledges the gendered context. At the same time the cultural context of the Nigerian society in terms of family norms are taken into account. An overview of commuter marriages, including characteristics of commuter marriages and non-traditional marriages linked to commuter marriages are provided. The differences between established and adjusting couples were repeatedly underlined. The research has an underlying interpretivist paradigm, therefore a qualitative research methodology was deemed best for the study. A semi-structured interview guide and time diaries were used to obtain data from seventeen participants. It was found that a commuter marriage is costly financially, socially and emotionally. An emphasis on the male provider and the wife as the manager of the resources was highlighted. Commuter couples report that their greatest support system constitute their family members who show the most understanding to their situation. Commuter fathers were generally passionate about their fatherly roles, but had conflicting feelings about balancing work and family, feeling the family is losing out. Generally, commuter couples in this study showed a sincere desire for the commuting relationship not to span an indefinite amount of time. / Sociology / D. Phil. (Sociology)