Leveraging on digital technology for financial inclusion of women agripreneurs in Southern Nigeria

Ugwuja Vivian Chinelo; Ekunwe Peter Ayodeji

doi:10.12688/f1000research.122123.3

Home Browse Leveraging on digital technology for financial inclusion of women...

ALL Metrics

Views

Downloads

Get PDF

Get XML

Export

▬

✚

Research Article

Revised

Leveraging on digital technology for financial inclusion of women agripreneurs in Southern Nigeria

[version 3; peer review: 1 approved, 3 approved with reservations]

Ugwuja Vivian Chinelo ¹, Ekunwe Peter Ayodeji¹

PUBLISHED 11 Dec 2023

Author details Author details

¹ Agricultural Economics and Extension, University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, 500001, Nigeria

Ugwuja Vivian Chinelo
Roles: Conceptualization, Data Curation, Formal Analysis, Funding Acquisition, Investigation, Methodology, Project Administration, Validation, Visualization, Writing – Original Draft Preparation, Writing – Review & Editing

Ekunwe Peter Ayodeji
Roles: Supervision, Writing – Original Draft Preparation, Writing – Review & Editing

OPEN PEER REVIEW

REVIEWER STATUS

This article is included in the Women’s Health and Development collection.

Abstract

Background

Women are key players in agriculture, but they are under-resourced, particularly in terms of finance. Microfinance has long been recognized as the most effective method of financially empowering these women, but using the benefits of digital technology can help scale it up and ensure its long-term viability.

Methods

The study area was Southern Nigeria. Respondents were women agripreneurs (n=479), from six states. 239 women agripreneurs who accessed digital financial products and 240 women agripreneurs who did not access financial products participated in the survey in 2019.

Results

The tests for significant difference between income of participants and non-participants in digital finance indicated a T-value of 3.214 (P< 0.001), which implies that there was a significant difference in the income of those that are accessing digital financial products (DFPs) and those that are not accessing DFPs. The tests for significant difference between savings of participants and non-participants indicated a T-value of 2.479 (p<0.05), which also implies that there was a significant difference in the women agripreneurs’ savings for participants and non-participants in DFPs. Only 2.5% of women agripreneurs are participating in micro-insurance in Southern Nigeria.

Conclusions

Women agripreneurs who are accessing digital financial products earned more income and saved more than those who are not accessing digital financial products. This implies that you are more advantaged in using digital finance in business. Micro-insurance is poorly accessed in Nigeria, and awareness of insurance products is moderately low. This study recommends that Central Bank of Nigeria should engage in more outreach programmes to enable all women in Nigeria access digital financial products because of its convenience and contributions to success in business. Insurance companies should capitalize on business models that incorporate mobile technologies in order to increase insurance penetration in rural areas.

Keywords

Women Agripreneurs; Digital Finance; Digital Financial Products and Services; Micro-insurance

Corresponding author: Ugwuja Vivian Chinelo

Competing interests: No competing interests were disclosed.

Grant information: This study was funded by AXA Research Fund Community, an AXA Group's Science Philanthropy Initiative in Paris, France.
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Copyright: © 2023 Vivian Chinelo U and Peter Ayodeji E. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

How to cite: Vivian Chinelo U and Peter Ayodeji E. Leveraging on digital technology for financial inclusion of women agripreneurs in Southern Nigeria [version 3; peer review: 1 approved, 3 approved with reservations]. F1000Research 2023, 11:704 (https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.122123.3) First published: 27 Jun 2022, 11:704 (https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.122123.1) Latest published: 11 Dec 2023, 11:704 (https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.122123.3)

Revised Amendments from Version 2

The total sample size is now consistent in ‘’Abstract” and ‘’Methodology”.

See the authors' detailed response to the review by Lee-Ying Tay
See the authors' detailed response to the review by Jean-Claude KOULADOUM

Introduction

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are a broad category of technological tools and resources used to create, disseminate, preserve, add value to, and manage data. Telecommunications, television and radio broadcasting, computer hardware, software services, and electronic media are all part of the ICT sector.¹ Microfinance relies heavily on information. Microfinance institutions (MFIs) collect and keep a massive amount of vital business data, ranging from basic client information to in-depth analysis of portfolio statistics. ICTs now have a greater impact on the structure and operations of businesses than any previous technology.

Financial inclusion is a critical factor in the economic development of any nation, and Nigeria is no exception. In recent years, there has been a growing recognition of the importance of digital finance as a means of promoting financial inclusion, particularly among farmers in rural areas. In Southern Nigeria, many farmers face significant challenges accessing financial services, which limits their ability to invest in their farms, increase productivity, and improve their livelihoods.

According to a report by Ref. 2, only 39.7% of Nigeria’s adult population had access to formal financial services, with a significant gap between urban and rural areas. The report also highlighted the challenges faced by farmers in rural areas in accessing financial services, including limited physical access to banks and other financial institutions, high transaction costs, and a lack of financial literacy and awareness.

The theoretical foundation of digital technology for financial inclusion is based on the concept of “digital financial services” (DFS), which refers to the use of digital technology to provide financial services. DFS can be delivered through various channels, such as mobile phones, the internet, and point-of-sale devices. The key benefits of DFS are that they are cost-effective, scalable, and can reach remote and underserved areas.

One of the most influential theories in this field is the “Technology Acceptance Model” (TAM), which was first proposed by Ref. 3. TAM posits that the adoption of technology is determined by two factors: perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. Several studies have applied TAM to the adoption of DFS, including a study by Ref. 4 in Nigeria and a study by Ref. 5 in Zimbabwe.

Empirical research on digital technology for financial inclusion has focused on two main areas: the impact of DFS on financial inclusion outcomes and the factors that influence the adoption of DFS by consumers. A recent meta-analysis by Ref. 6 synthesized the findings of 126 impact evaluations of DFS interventions in developing countries. The analysis found that DFS interventions have a positive impact on financial inclusion outcomes, such as access to formal financial services, savings behavior, and income.

Factors that influence the adoption of DFS by consumers include demographic characteristics, such as age, gender, and education level, as well as trust in financial institutions and perceptions of the usefulness and ease of use of DFS. Several studies have also examined the role of regulatory frameworks and infrastructure in promoting the adoption of DFS, such as a study by Ref. 7 in Kenya.

This new wave of digital finance presents tremendous opportunity for the financial sector and customers alike, promoting individual well-being and nationwide financial inclusion. Using the same dataset as this research, the authors have previously reported on a variety of digital financial products and services.⁸ Digital financial products and services made available through digital finance are ATM/debit cards, SMS alert services, USSD banking codes, point of sale (POS), balance inquiry, online fund transfer, email alerts, online bill payments, e-statements, online purchases, remittances, online loans, online deposit accounts, online savings accounts and micro-insurance. According to the authors’ previous research,⁸ micro-insurance notwithstanding its benefit is the least accessed digital financial product. Micro-insurance protects the agripreneurs against losses caused by crop failure. It acts like a tool that allows farmers to manage their yield and price risks. Farmers are able to repay their loans even during the time of crop failure with the support of the right insurance partner.

Despite improvement in financial technology, women remain underrepresented among the banked and formally served, and women remain significantly excluded compared to men,⁹ Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFINA)⁹ also indicated that 35 percent of Nigerian rural women have no bank account compared with 60 percent of urban women. The majority of these rural women are agripreneurs whose main occupation is mostly farming.

Some studies have identified financial availability and accessibility as one of the primary impediments and restrictions to economic progress.¹⁰ Women as a group who are usually available and willing to embark on entrepreneurial ventures, are hindered sometimes due to the following factors; absence of start-up capital, lack of awareness of existing credit schemes; high interest rates; long and rigorous processes for loan applications; and lack of collateral security for loans.¹⁰

When we talk about agripreneurship, we refer to the totality of activities which include making profit through commercializing different types of agricultural produce.¹¹ This will range from earning income from farming activities like crop cultivation to fish farming and animal husbandry.¹² An agripreneur is a risk-taker, an imaginative and creative genius who has the ability to design and introduce new products capable of drawing customer’s attention. Agripreneurs are productive and can spot unique business opportunities as they look for better methods to organise their farms, try new crops and cultivars, breed better animals, and use alternative technology to boost productivity, diversify production, minimise risk, and improve profit.

According to a study embarked upon by Ref. 13, women entrepreneurs, given their position and educational level, could have fantastic business ideas but would lack the requisite capital to executive those ideas. In their view, if they were provided with the right assistance financially and the right guidance, these women could transform to labour employers in no time. The scholars advanced their study by positing that “before the coming of the colonial administrations, African women had led the way, or at least played important roles, in the social and economic development of their different traditional communities”. Nevertheless, the injection of a Victorian culture or idea where women were sidelined in the public organization of things brought about women’s role marginalization. The result in Nigeria became that women could not have a direct access to credit despite the amount involved. Many of them would have their husband, father or brother guarantee them before they got the loan¹⁴ also found similar evidence in Latin American communities, that aspiring women entrepreneurs were less likely to access formal credit than men were.

Women typically do not have access to assets or family property, which contributes to their poverty. It is necessary to conduct a study that evaluates their bad state in order to formulate appropriate policy. Hence the need for this study.

Objectives of the study

The specific objectives of this study were to:

i. identify conditions for accessing digital financial products and services (DFS) among women agriprenuers in Southern Nigeria;
ii. compare assets, income and savings of women agriprenuers with and without digital financial products and services in Southern Nigeria;
iii. examine the level of awareness, perception and participation of women agripreneurs in micro-insurance schemes in Southern Nigeria.

Hypothesis of the study

Ho₁: There is no significant difference in assets, income and savings of women agripreneurs with and without digital financial products and services (DFS) in Southern Nigeria.

Methods

Ethics and consent

The study was reviewed and approved by the University of Port Harcourt Research Ethics Committee on 2/2/2018 to make sure the research meets high ethical and scientific standards. Verbal consent was obtained from the women agripreneurs; a consent form was attached to the questionnaire which every participant verbally agrees to before participating in the research, this was approved by ethics committee. The reason for verbal consent is because this is the form of consent we obtain when some of the respondents are not literate. The purposes and importance of this study were explained to all women agripreneurs. The responses of each respondent were kept confidential by coding. The data were collected and analyzed anonymously.

Area of study

The area of the study was Southern Nigeria. It has a population of 64,978,376 people and covers a total land area of 193,347 km² (NPC, 2006). Nigeria is divided into six geopolitical zones, three of which make up Southern Nigeria. It is made up of 17 states out of Nigeria's 36. It is covered by a diverse range of vegetation belts, from Nigeria's largest rain forests to mangrove swamps, savannahs, mountains, and waterfalls, all of which are teeming with rare animals, endangered species, and unusual plant families, making it one of the world's richest biodiversity hotspots, attracting both scientists and tourists. The Niger Delta is a Southern Nigerian. This is where the lion's share of the country's oil is discovered.

Sampling procedure and sampling size

A multistage sampling procedure was used to choose the respondents for this study. Southern Nigeria is divided into three geopolitical zones: southeast (five states), southwest (six states), and south-south (six states). In each geopolitical zone, two states were chosen at random using simple randomization method, making a total of six states for the study. Abia, Enugu, Bayelsa, Rivers, Ekiti, and Ondo were the states selected. Two Local Government Areas (LGAs) were purposively picked in each selected state, giving a total of 12 LGAs. The LGAs in Abia were Umuahia North and Umuahia South LGAs, in Bayelsa, Yenagoa and Sagbama LGAs, in Enugu, Orji River and Nkanu West LGAs, in Rivers, Ikwerre and Khana LGAs, in Ekiti, Ikere and Ado-Ekiti LGAs, and in Ondo, Akure North and Ifedore LGAs. The study selected two farming communities purposively from each LGA, totaling 24 farming communities. Purposive selection was made based on the presence of financial institutions in the farming communities. Enumerators, who are professional data collectors, assisted in gathering the participants, using key informants in the selected communities. Respondents were approached in their farms, shops, homes and their meeting venues. In each selected community, there was a purposive selection of ten women agripreneurs who use digital financial products and ten women agripreneurs who don't use digital financial goods. This gave a total of 240 of them who have access to digital financial products, and another 240 who do not have access to financial products. Out of the 240 copies of questionnaire administered to respondents who have access to financial products, 239 of them were successfully completed and used for analysis. For the entire survey, there were 379 women agripreneurs.

Data collection

Primary data were collected starting from 26/10/2018, using structured questionnaires where literate participants filled in the questionnaire themselves, and for illiterate participants an oral interview was conducted with the help of enumerators filling the questionnaire on their behalf. The research instrument was validated by a panel of experts in Agricultural Economics and Cybersecurity to make sure it possessed both face and content validity. The researchers ensured that all the corrections pointed out were incorporated before making the final draft. The study used two sets of questionnaires: one for women agripreneurs who use digital financial products, and another for women agripreneurs who do not. The questionnaires have open ended and Yes/No questions.

Data analysis

The data were analyzed using two distinct approaches: descriptive statistics and inferential statistics such Z-Test. Objectives i and iii were achieved using descriptive statistics such as mean, frequencies and percentages. The software that was used for analysis is SPSS version 25 (2017).

Model specification for Z-test model

Objective ii was achieved using Z-test. The analysis was done separately for assets, income and savings comparing these variables for women agripreneurs that are using digital financial products and services and those that are not using digital financial products and services. The Z –statistic is mathematically specified as;

(1)

Z = \frac{\hat{X} - \hat{Y}}{\sqrt{\frac{{S^{2}}_{x}}{n_{x}} + \frac{{S^{2}}_{y}}{n_{y}}}}

Z = the value by which the statistical significance of the mean difference would be judged

$\hat{X}$ = Mean amount of assets/income/saving women agripreneurs that are accessing digital financial products and services (DFS)

$\hat{Y}$ = Mean amount of assets/income/savings of women agripreneurs that are not accessing DFS

S²_x = Variance of mean amount of assets/income/savings of women agripreneurs that are accessing DFS

S²_y = Variance of mean amount of assets/income/savings of women agripreneurs that are not accessing DFS

n_x = Sample size of women agripreneurs that are accessing DFS

n_y = Sample size of women agripreneurs that are not accessing DFS

Results and discussion

Conditions for accessing digital financial products and services among women agripreneurs in Southern Nigeria

Results from Figure 1 show that all (100%) the female heads agreed that they must meet the following conditions before they could access digital financial products (DFPs) (1) Must provide a completed application form; (2) Must use a device (phone, laptop, point of sale (POS) and ATM machines, etc.); (3) Must have a password and a username; (4) Must have a personal identification number; (5) Must have a bank verification number; (6) Must open an account. Finding 2 conforms with expectations because digital financial products are accessed through electronic devices. The majority (95.4%) of the respondents indicated that you must provide a valid identification card, while 94.6% indicated that you must provide your phone number. About 72.4% of the respondents agreed that you must provide a recent passport photograph, while 70.3% agreed that you must download and install a mobile bank application. This finding corroborates with the report of Ref. 15 who stated that Palestinian bank customers accessed digital financial products and services through ATMs and mobile banking applications.

Figure 1. Conditions for accessing digital financial products.

Additionally, analysis on the results shows that respondents agreed moderately with the following conditions: 1) You must be online (60.3%); 2) You must provide your email address (62.3%); 3) You must have a token (56.1%). None (0%) indicated that you must provide a referee. Participants agreed that they were subjected to the indicated conditions before accessing digital financial products and services.

Income, savings and assets differentials among women agripreneurs who accessed digital financial products and those that did not access them

In Table 1, the different means of income, savings and assets of women agripreneurs that are accessing DFPs and those that are not accessing are presented. The tests for significant difference between income of participants and non-participants indicated a T-value of 3.214 (p<0.001), which implies that there was a significant difference in the annual income of those that are accessing DFPs and those that are not accessing DFPs. The tests for significant difference between annual savings of participants and non-participants indicated a T-value of 2.479 (p<0.05), which also implies that there was a significant difference in the women agripreneurs’ savings for participants and non-participants in DFPs. The tests for significant difference for assets between participants and non-participant in DFPs was not significant. The mean annual income was NGN372,938.22 and NGN288,720.06 for participants and non-participants respectively, and mean annual savings were NGN132,534.23 and NGN86,304.17 for participants and non-participants respectively. This implies that women agripreneurs who accessed DFPs had more successful businesses than those who did not access DFPs.

Table 1. Results of the Z-test comparing income, savings and assets of participants and non-participants in digital financial products (DFPs).

Statistic measures	Annual income		Annual savings		Assets
	Participants	Non-participants	Participants	Non-participants	Participants	Non-participants
Sample size	239	240	239	240	239	240
Mean	NGN372,938.22	NGN288,720.06	NGN132,534.2	NGN86,304.17	3.91	3.51
T-ratio	3.214		2.479		1.543
P-Value	.001		.014		.124

Awareness of micro-insurance schemes by women agripreneurs in Southern Nigeria

Analysis from Figure 2 shows that majority (66.5%) of women agripreneurs that are accessing digital financial products agreed that they are aware of micro-insurance schemes in Southern Nigeria. Analysis from Figure 3 also indicated that majority (65.0%) of women agripreneurs who are not accessing digital financial products indicated that they are not aware of micro-insurance schemes, implying that women agripreneurs who access digital financial products know more about micro-insurance than those who are not accessing digital financial products. Pooled response from Figure 4 indicated that 50.5% of the women agripreneurs in Southern Nigeria are aware of micro-insurance schemes in Nigeria, implying that on average half of the respondents are aware of micro-insurance schemes.

Figure 2. Awareness of micro-insurance schemes by women agripreneurs that are accessing digital financial products.

Figure 3. Awareness of micro-insurance by women agripreneurs that are not accessing digital financial products.

Figure 4. Pooled responses on awareness of micro-insurance by women agripreneurs.

Participation in micro-insurance schemes by women agripreneurs in Southern Nigeria

Results from Figure 5 shows that majority (95.8%) of female heads who are accessing digital financial products are not participating in micro-insurance schemes. Also, Figure 6 shows that none (0%) of the female heads who are not accessing digital financial products participates in micro-insurance schemes. Figure 7 shows pooled responses from women agripreneurs who are accessing and not accessing digital financial products on participation in micro-insurance schemes. Only 2.5% of the respondents are participating in micro-insurance. The implication of this is that many Nigerians do not access micro-insurance products. This corroborates the findings of Ref. 16 which states that out of 96.4 million adults, only 0.3 million use micro-insurance products. The findings of Ref. 8 also reported poor participation of women in accessing insurance products.

Figure 5. Participation in micro-insurance by women agripreneurs that are accessing digital financial products.

Figure 6. Participation in micro-insurance by women agripreneurs that are not accessing digital financial products.

Figure 7. Pooled responses on participation in micro-insurance by women agripreneurs.

Perceptions of women agripreneurs on insurance products

Figure 8 shows the perceptions of women agripreneurs who are accessing digital financial products on insurance. Most of them agreed with the following statements: (1) Insurance is beneficial to farmers because it helps to cushion the effects of risks (70.3%); (2) I perceive that compensation to be paid will not cover losses (64.9%); (3) The premium rate is very high (64%); (4) Insurance is not a priority to me compared to other needs (64%); (5) Insurance reduces farmers’ worries and stress (63.6%); (6) I have the fear that compensation will be delayed for a long time (62.9%); (7) I have fears that claims may not be paid (59.4%) and (8) There is usually long bureaucracy in obtaining an insurance cover (51.5%).

Figure 8. Perceptions of women agripreneurs who are accessing digital financial products on insurance.

A minority of the respondents agreed to the following statements: (1) Insurance is not needed to cushion the effects of losses or damages (6.7%); (2) Recovering farmers’ losses is government liability (21.8%); (3) Insurance should be mandatory (37.2%).

Results from Figure 9 shows the perception of women agripreneurs who are not accessing digital financial products on insurance. They agreed moderately to the following statements: (1) I have the fear that compensation will be delayed for a long time (49.6%); (2) Insurance is not a priority to me compared to other needs (48.3%); (3) Insurance is beneficial to farmers because it helps to cushion the effects of risks (48.3%) (4) I perceive that compensation to be paid will not cover losses (47.1%); (5) The premium rate is very high (44.6%); (6) Insurance reduces farmers’ worries and stress (43.3%); (7) I have fears that claims may not be paid (41.3%); (8) There is usually long bureaucracy in obtaining an insurance cover (40.4%).

Figure 9. Perceptions of women agripreneurs who are not accessing digital financial products on insurance.

A minority of the respondents agreed with the following statements: (1) Insurance is not needed to cushion the effects of losses or damages (13.3%); (2) Insurance should be mandatory (21.3%); (3) Recovering farmers’ losses is government liability (20.0%).

From the findings of this research, the perceptions of these women on micro-insurance could be a major reason why they don’t participate in insurance schemes.

Conclusion

Digital finance through the use of financial technology may be very convenient but has many conditions required to access it. Findings from this study shows that users must use a device (phone, laptop, POS and ATM machines, etc.), must have a password and a username, must have a personal identification number, must have a bank verification number and you must open an account. Women agripreneurs who are accessing digital financial products earned more income and saved more than those who are not accessing digital financial products. This implies that you are more advantaged in using digital finance in business. Micro-insurance is poorly accessed in Nigeria, and awareness of insurance products is moderately low. Most of the women agripreneurs perceive that insurance is beneficial to farmers because it helps to cushion the effects of risk, and also perceive that compensation to be paid will not cover losses and that the premium rate is very high. This study recommends that Central Bank of Nigeria should engage in more outreach programmes to enable all women in Nigeria access digital financial products because of its convenience and contributions to success in business. Insurance companies should capitalize on business models that incorporate mobile technologies in order to increase insurance penetration in rural areas. This is the first research that has studied digital finance and perception on insurance of women agripreneurs in Southern Nigeria. A limitation is that it was not able to study men agripreneurs, and therefore it is recommended that future research should be carried out on the digital finance and perception on insurance of men agripreneurs. The government should provide subsidies and incentives to farmers who adopt digital financial services. This can be done by providing reduced transaction fees or cash-back rewards for farmers who use digital financial services to save or invest in their farm. Government can encourage partnerships between financial institutions and agribusinesses to promote the use of digital financial services among farmers. This can be done by providing incentives for financial institutions to partner with agribusinesses and by creating platforms that facilitate these partnerships.

Data availability

Underlying data figshare: Leveraging on Digital Technology for Financial Inclusion of Women Agripreneurs in Southern Nigeria. https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.19657671.v1¹⁷

This project contains the following files

- Non participants.sav (raw data file)
- Participants.sav (raw data file)

Extended data

figshare: Leveraging on Digital Technology for Financial Inclusion of Women Agripreneurs in Southern Nigeria. https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.19657671.v1¹⁷

This project contains the following files

- Questionnaire for participants.sav
- Questionnaire for non-participants.sav
- Data key for participants
- Data key for non-participants

Data are available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC-BY 4.0).

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the women agripreneurs who willingly participated in the study, extension agents and field enumerators who conducted the survey. The project recognizes the support of the host University, University of Port Harcourt, and most importantly, the AXA Research Fund Community for funding this research.

References

1. Pardhasaradhi Y, Nagender RV: Women empowerment: Information Technology as a critical input. Indian Journal of Public Administration.2014; 60(3): 515–526. Publisher Full Text
2. Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFInA) Access to Financial Services in Nigeria Survey 2018. 2018.https://www.efina.org.ng/content/efina-access-financial-services-nigeria-survey
3. Davis FD: Perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and user acceptance of information technology. MIS Quarterly.1989; 13(3): 319–340. Publisher Full Text
4. Sadiq MA, Abubakar AB, Ibrahim H: Mobile banking adoption in Nigeria: An application of technology acceptance model. Journal of Internet Banking and Commerce.2019; 24(1): 1–16.
5. Chibba M: Mhlanga: Examining the factors influencing the adoption of mobile banking in Zimbabwe: An extension of the technology acceptance model. Journal of African Business.2018; 19(3): 361–378.
6. Dabalen A, Etang A, Hoogeveen J, et al.: The impact of digital financial services on financial inclusion and stability: A meta-analysis. World Development.2020; 134: 105027.
7. Mas I, Radcliffe D: Mobile payments go viral: M-PESA in Kenya. Institute for Money, Technology and Financial Inclusion Working Paper.2021; 63.
8. Ugwuja VC, Adesope OM: Cyber risks in Microfinance Digitization: Exposures and Preventions among Female Headed Farm Households in Southern Nigeria. European Journal of Agriculture and Food Sciences.2021; 3(3): 62–68. Publisher Full Text
9. Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFInA). Access to Financial Services in Nigeria 2020 Survey. 2021.http://www.efina.org.ng/media-centre/news
10. Ifelunini IA, Wosowei EC: Does microfinance reduce poverty among women entrepreneurs in South-South Nigeria? Evidence from propensity score matching technique. European Journal of Business and Management.2013; 21: 76–87.
11. Irobi NC: Microfinance and poverty alleviation: A case study of Obazu progressive Women association Mbieri, Imo State, Nigeria. (An Unpublished Master Thesis) Sverigesantbruks University, Uppsala, Sweden. 2008
12. Yusuf A, Ahmad NH, Abdulhalim H: Entrepreneurial orientation and Agropreneurial intention among Malaysia Agricultural student.Impact of Agropreneurship.2017. http://www.absrc.org/wp-content/uploads
13. Odejimi DO: Agabada: “Industrialization: key to socio-economic development in Nigeria”. International Journal of Economic and Development Studies.2014; 5(2): 69–78.
14. Sabarwal S, Terrell K: Access to credit and performance of female entrepreneurs in Latin America. Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research.2009; 29(18): 6–14.
15. Suliman AE, Mazen JAS, Samy SA: Electronic Banking Services from the Point of View of Bank Customers in Palestine. International Journal of Academic Accounting, Finance & Management Research (IJAAFMR).2019; 3(10): 45–60.
16. Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFInA): Access to Financial Services in Nigeria Survey. 2016. http://www.efina.org.ng/media-centre/news.2016
17. Leveraging on Digital Technology for Financial Inclusion of Women Agripreneurs in Southern Nigeria. [Dataset]. Figshare. 2022. Publisher Full Text

Comments on this article Comments (0)

Version 3

VERSION 3 PUBLISHED 27 Jun 2022

Author details Author details

¹ Agricultural Economics and Extension, University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, 500001, Nigeria

Ekunwe Peter Ayodeji
Roles: Supervision, Writing – Original Draft Preparation, Writing – Review & Editing

Competing interests

No competing interests were disclosed.

Grant information

This study was funded by AXA Research Fund Community, an AXA Group's Science Philanthropy Initiative in Paris, France.
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Article Versions (3)

version 3

Revised

Published: 11 Dec 2023, 11:704

https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.122123.3

version 2

Revised

Published: 16 May 2023, 11:704

https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.122123.2

version 1

Published: 27 Jun 2022, 11:704

https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.122123.1

© 2023 Vivian Chinelo U and Peter Ayodeji E. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Download

Export To

metrics

	Views	Downloads
F1000Research	-	-
PubMed Central Data from PMC are received and updated monthly.	-	-

Citations

SEE MORE DETAILS

CITE

how to cite this article

Vivian Chinelo U and Peter Ayodeji E. Leveraging on digital technology for financial inclusion of women agripreneurs in Southern Nigeria [version 3; peer review: 1 approved, 3 approved with reservations]. F1000Research 2023, 11:704 (https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.122123.3)

NOTE: If applicable, it is important to ensure the information in square brackets after the title is included in all citations of this article.

track

receive updates on this article

Track an article to receive email alerts on any updates to this article.

Open Peer Review

Current Reviewer Status: ?

Key to Reviewer Statuses VIEW HIDE

ApprovedThe paper is scientifically sound in its current form and only minor, if any, improvements are suggested

Approved with reservations A number of small changes, sometimes more significant revisions are required to address specific details and improve the papers academic merit.

Not approvedFundamental flaws in the paper seriously undermine the findings and conclusions

Version 3

VERSION 3

PUBLISHED 11 Dec 2023

Revised

Views

Reviewer Report 14 Jun 2024

Lee-Ying Tay, Faculty of Business, Multimedia University, Melaka, Malaysia

Approved

https://doi.org/10.5256/f1000research.159847.r229103

The author has ... Continue reading

CITE

Report a concern

Respond or Comment

Views

Reviewer Report 03 Apr 2024

Rachel Hay, James Cook University, Townsville City, Queensland, Australia

William Harrington, College of Business Law and Governance, James Cook University, Townsville City, Queensland, Australia

Carrie-Ann Wilson, College of Business, Law and Governance, James Cook University, Townsville City, Queensland, Australia

Approved with Reservations

https://doi.org/10.5256/f1000research.159847.r238530

* I appreciate the opportunity to review this paper alongside my PhD students, William Harrington and Carrie-Anne Wilson.
* Overall the topic of discussion is important and interesting
There needs to be clearer delineation of who the data is reporting on 1) all women participants, 2) a subset of women agripreneurs - this is not clear throughout the analysis e.g., if participants who did not identify as women agripreneurs were removed, this needs to be stated in the methodology, likewise if they were kept in then see 1) and 2) above.
* Overall, the paper requires deeper compare and contrast in the literature review to situate the research for the reader.
* The implications to policy could be clearer
* The statistical analysis, is appropriate, but the authors need to clearly identify limitations within the methodology.

Abstract
Results Section
* the results of the statistical analysis implies/demonstrate what the data tells us. It implies or demonstrates the correct language?
* the results discuss objectives 1 and 2, but for objective 3 only participation is included, need to include results from perception and awarness
* why is it important to know only 2.5% of women agripreneurs are participating in micro-insurance in Southern Nigeria. This sentence is hanging, extend to identify the contribution to the objective e.g., can we attribute that to awareness, perception? possible re-write: While the data clearly demonstrates that only 2.5% of women agripreneurs are participating in micro-insurance in Southern Nigeria, we are unsure if this results from a lack of awareness or poor perception of the benefits of micro-insurance.

Body of work
* overall the referencing style is inconsistent, some are superscript and others are identified by Ref. # - change to be more consistent, consider using APA referencing. There are insufficient references. Nearly half of the references included are grey literature reducing the credibility of the work. Use the prompts below to increase academic literature.

Introduction
* Para 1 hanging sentence: "Microfinance relies heavily on information." remove
* Para 1: MFI sentence needs a reference
* Para 2: Financial inclusion is a critical factor in the economic development of any nation (REF)
* Para 2: In recent years, there has been a growing recognition of the importance of digital finance as a means of promoting financial inclusion, particularly among farmers in rural areas (REF)
* Para 4: digital financial services (REF) https://pubdocs.worldbank.org/en/230281588169110691/Digital-Financial-Services.pdf
* Para 5: Several studies have applied TAM to the adoption of DFS, including a study by Ref. 4 in Nigeria and a study by Ref. 5 in Zimbabwe- what did these papers tell us - extend e.g., Sadiq et al., (2019) found that... this was supported/contrasted by Chibba (2018) who identified... then write about how this supports/directs your study. This important critical analysis provides the reader with context around why this topic is of interest.
* Para 6: "Empirical research on digital technology for financial inclusion..." is critically analysed much better
* Para 7: Factors that influence the adoption of DFS by consumers include demographic characteristics, such as age, gender, and education level, as well as trust in financial institutions and perceptions of the usefulness and ease of use of DFS (REFERENCES). ........ such as a study by Ref. 7 in Kenya, which found.... extend this to provide context.
* Para 8: Microfinance has long been recognized as the most effective method of financially empowering these women (REF). Digital technology can help scale....
* Para 9: Note self-citing from grey literature - reduces credibility
* Para 9: self reference/circular reference - citing the same data from two different resources of the same author and database does not increase the credibility of the finding - eg., According to the authors’ previous research (From the same dataset),⁸ micro-insurance notwithstanding its benefit is the least accessed digital financial product.
* Para 10: agripreneurs - needs defining - Move paragarph "When we talk about agripreneurship, we refer to the totality of activities which include..." to after paragraph "women are key players". Start the sentence with In this study we refer to women agripreneurs, which refers to the totality of activities.....
* Para 11: Despite improvement in financial technology, women remain underrepresented - all women or Nigerian/African women - define
* para 11: sentence structure "Despite improvement in financial technology, women remain underrepresented among the banked and formally served, and women remain significantly excluded compared to men(FULL STOP),⁹ THE Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFINA) SURVEY (2021) ⁹ also indicated that 35 percent of Nigerian rural women have no bank account compared with 60 percent of urban women (pg. XX)." The majority (XX%) of these rural women are agripreneurs whose main occupation is mostly farming.
Para 12: Reference 10 is an unpublished masters thesis... can you find a published academic reference that can support this claim rather than relying on an unpublished masters thesis?
Para 13: moved to after Para 8
Para 14: In their view, if they were provided with the right assistance financially and the right guidance, these women could transform to labour employers in no time. whose view the author, the women entrepreneurs?
Para 14: The scholars advanced their study by positing that “before the coming of the colonial administrations, African women had led the way, or at least played important roles, in the social and economic development of their different traditional communities” (pg: XX). so what, why is this important?
Para 14: introducing a new concept - expand - Nevertheless, the injection of a Victorian culture or idea where women were sidelined in the public organization of things brought about women’s role marginalization (REF).
Para 14: sentence structure - needs improving - In Nigeria women cannot have a direct access to credit despite the amount involved (REF). For many, their husband, father or brother would need to guarantee them before they were approved for the loan.¹⁴ Sabarwal et al., (2009) also found similar evidence in Latin American communities, that aspiring women entrepreneurs were less likely to access formal credit than men were.
Para 15: re -write e.g., In Nigeria, women typically do not have access to assets or family property, which contributes to their poverty (REF). It is necessary to conduct a study that evaluates women's access to digital technology for financial inclusion to formulate appropriate policy. Hence the need for this study.

Objectives and Hypothesis are clear and concise

Area of Study
* ...It is made up of 17 states out of Nigeria's 36 - what is Southern Nigeria, then state clearly? Southern Nigeria is made up of 17 states out of Nigeria's 36 and is covered by a diverse range of vegetation belts, from Nigeria's largest rain forests... (REF).
* what relevance do these sentences have on the study, if none, then remove, if something then expand to identify relevance. "The Niger Delta is a Southern Nigerian. This is where the lion's share of the country's oil is discovered"

Sampling Procedure and sampling size
* ... using simple randomization method (REF method).
* ... using key informants (REF) why were key informants used?
* This gave a total of 240 agripreneural women who have access...
* Identify the number of participants who completed the survey who did not have access to financial products: This gave a total of 240 agripreneural women who have access to digital financial products, and another 240 who do not have access to financial products, a total of 480 potential participants. Out of the 240 copies of questionnaire administered to respondents who have access to financial products, 239 were successfully completed and used for analysis. XXX number of respondent completed the survey for those who do not have access to financial products. For the entire survey, there were 379 women agripreneurs.

Data collection
* Primary data were collected starting from 26/10/2018 and completed on XX/XX/XXXX
* Why were two different questionnaires used? Extend to explain why the survey could not be completed using one survey instrument.

Model specification
* It is noted that z-tests performed in SPSS can report the wrong standard error - if completed in spss was a manual calculation used to ensure that the analysis was correct?
* Cohen's H (used to measure the distance between two proportions) is not mentioned, was Cohen's H used to test if the significance was small, medium or large? If not, then this should be included in the results.

Results and Discussion
Overall - only a proportion were women agrientrepreneurs, the findings discussed here apply to all women participants. The authors need to discriminate with supporting data when reflecting on women agrientreprenures throughout the results and discussion.
Conditions for accessing digital financial products and services among women agripreneurs in Southern Nigeria
* Figure 1 would be better displayed as a table
* Results from Figure 1 show that all (100%) women agripreneurs OR female respondents agreed that...
* the questions about risk assume that the participant engages with online/electronic banking - a question to confirm relevance to the two groups access or not to financial products, would have confirmed their suitability for the study and enabled deeper analysis of the findings e.g., Do you engage in electronic banking, Do you have a valid identification card/papers, Have you downloaded and installed online banking app etc. This data would have allowed the researchers to compare and contrast if the conditions were able to be met or that they were not met because of these limitations. Not having these qualifying questions should be identified as a limitation within the study.
* Additionally, analysis on the results shows that respondents agreed moderately with the following conditions: 1) You must be online (60.3%); 2) You must provide your email address (62.3%); 3) You must have a token (56.1%). what is the importance of this - of the 37.7% that are not online, is this because they are restricted by culture, access to internet, have a low levels of awareness? How will you recommend changes to policy etc from these findings?
Income, savings and assets differentials among women agripreneurs who accessed digital financial products and those that did not access them
* the results of the statistical analysis implies/ demonstrate what the data tells us. It implies or demonstrates the correct language?
* The tests for significant difference between annual savings of participants and non-participants indicated a T-value of 2.479 (p<0.05), which also implies that there was a significant difference in the women agripreneurs’ savings for participants and non-participants in DFPs.
Awareness of micro-insurance schemes by women agripreneurs in Southern Nigeria
* all donut graphs would be better displayed as a table in the paper
Participation in micro-insurance schemes by women agripreneurs in Southern Nigeria
* results would be better demonstrated in tables
* Results from Figure 5 shows that majority (95.8%) of female respondents/agripreneurs who are accessing...
* check wording of this sentence "women heads" also "who are not" does not make sense? example wording Figure 6 shows that of the women participants who are not accessing digital financial products participates none (0%) are participating in micro-insurance schemes, which may indicate a lack of awareness opportunities for women without digital access.
* Figure 7 shows pooled responses (n=480) from women... use the total number of responses to assist readers to understand the criteria for the analysis
*Only 2.5% of the (all, some, just agripreneures - identify clearly) respondents are participating in micro-insurance.
*A minority of the respondents agreed to the following statements: (1) is a minority; (2) is nearly a quarter of responses and (3) is more than a third of responses - using "a minority" in this instance is lazy and unrepresentative
* Results from Figure 9 shows the perception of women agripreneurs (n= 379) - when referring to women agripreneurs as a subsample of the data set use the n to assist readers to identify the subset.
* Figure 9 data would be better displayed as a table
* From the findings of this research, the perceptions of these women on micro-insurance could be a major reason why they don’t participate in insurance schemes - this needs to be a discussion of the findings all together - expand e.g Overall the study identifies XX, YY and ZZ, which clearly identifies that the perceptions of agrientrepreneurial women/women participants poor participation in insurance schemes.

Conclusion
*.... must have a bank verification number and must open an account to participate.
* This implies that you are more advantaged in using digital finance in business - is this conclusive? Perhaps those who are more successful are more likely to adopt such products, be cautious coming to singular conclusions.
* with the above changes and more thoughtful discussion, the conclusions could be made stronger.

Is the work clearly and accurately presented and does it cite the current literature?

Partly
Is the study design appropriate and is the work technically sound?

Partly
Are sufficient details of methods and analysis provided to allow replication by others?

Yes
If applicable, is the statistical analysis and its interpretation appropriate?

Partly
Are all the source data underlying the results available to ensure full reproducibility?

Yes
Are the conclusions drawn adequately supported by the results?

Partly

Competing Interests: No competing interests were disclosed.

Reviewer Expertise: Technology adoption by women in agriculture, internet access and connectivity, women in agriculture, agricultural marketing research design, delivery and analysis, policy recommendations.

We confirm that we have read this submission and believe that we have an appropriate level of expertise to confirm that it is of an acceptable scientific standard, however we have significant reservations, as outlined above.

CITE

Report a concern

Respond or Comment

Views

Reviewer Report 06 Mar 2024

Wonder Agbenyo, Sichuan Agricultural University, Ya'an, Sichuan, China

Approved with Reservations

https://doi.org/10.5256/f1000research.159847.r243529

This topic is interesting and needs a more robust result as compared to the mere basic statistical analysis in the work.
I strongly suggest the authors adopt PSM to analyse the impact of digital technology on the financial inclusion of women agripreneurs.
What is the moderation between the key variables in this manuscript?
In general, the background and topic are very educational; however, the statistical approach is not robust enough.

*compare assets, income and savings of women agriprenuers with and without digital financial products and services in Southern Nigeria*

Objective 2 is key to this research hence needs to be well addressed in the study especially with a more robust method.

Is the work clearly and accurately presented and does it cite the current literature?

Yes
Is the study design appropriate and is the work technically sound?

Yes
Are sufficient details of methods and analysis provided to allow replication by others?

No
If applicable, is the statistical analysis and its interpretation appropriate?

No
Are all the source data underlying the results available to ensure full reproducibility?

No
Are the conclusions drawn adequately supported by the results?

Partly

Competing Interests: No competing interests were disclosed.

Reviewer Expertise: Digital finance, Agricultural Economics and econometrics

I confirm that I have read this submission and believe that I have an appropriate level of expertise to confirm that it is of an acceptable scientific standard, however I have significant reservations, as outlined above.

CITE

Report a concern

Respond or Comment

Version 2

VERSION 2

PUBLISHED 16 May 2023

Revised

Views

Reviewer Report 26 May 2023

Lee-Ying Tay, Faculty of Business, Multimedia University, Melaka, Malaysia

Approved

https://doi.org/10.5256/f1000research.148037.r173819

I have reviewed the article and am pleased to share ... Continue reading

CITE

Report a concern

Author Response 17 Jan 2024

ugwuja vivian, Agricultural Economics and Extension, University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt, 500001, Nigeria

17 Jan 2024

Author Response

Thank you so much.
Competing Interests: NO COMPETING INTERESTS
Thank you so much.
Thank you so much.
Competing Interests: NO COMPETING INTERESTS Close
Report a concern
Respond or Comment

COMMENTS ON THIS REPORT

Author Response 17 Jan 2024

ugwuja vivian, Agricultural Economics and Extension, University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt, 500001, Nigeria

17 Jan 2024

Author Response

Thank you so much.
Competing Interests: NO COMPETING INTERESTS
Thank you so much.
Thank you so much.
Competing Interests: NO COMPETING INTERESTS Close
Report a concern

Version 1

VERSION 1

PUBLISHED 27 Jun 2022

Views

Reviewer Report 02 May 2023

Jean-Claude KOULADOUM, Department of Economics, University of Moundou, Moundou, Chad

Approved with Reservations

https://doi.org/10.5256/f1000research.134069.r170322

Thank you for giving me this opportunity to review this paper.
This paper is entitled as: Leveraging on digital technology for financial inclusion of women agripreneurs in Southern Nigeria
The objective conducts by the authors are very interesting ... Continue reading

Why is the case of Southern Nigeria important to study in the relationship between digital technologies and financial inclusion? Your general introduction does not provide this information.
Your general introduction contains almost no authors. This is surprising.
The literature review appears incomplete, is not critical, nor is there sufficient academic support for the arguments in the article. You can provide at the beginning of this section the theoretical and empirical foundation of digital technology for financial inclusion.
The policy recommendation part needs to be revised.
References to previous research: Either compare your results with the findings from other studies or use the studies to support a claim. This can include re-visiting key sources already cited in your literature review section or saving them from citing later in the discussion section if they are more important to compare with your results instead of being a part of the general literature review of prior research used to provide context and background information.

Consideration of the above comments will improve the quality of this article.

Is the work clearly and accurately presented and does it cite the current literature?

No
Is the study design appropriate and is the work technically sound?

Partly
Are sufficient details of methods and analysis provided to allow replication by others?

Partly
If applicable, is the statistical analysis and its interpretation appropriate?

Partly
Are all the source data underlying the results available to ensure full reproducibility?

Partly
Are the conclusions drawn adequately supported by the results?

Partly

Competing Interests: No competing interests were disclosed.

CITE

Report a concern

Author Response 29 Nov 2023

ugwuja vivian, Agricultural Economics and Extension, University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt, 500001, Nigeria

29 Nov 2023

Author Response
1. Why is the case of Southern Nigeria important to study in the relationship between digital technologies and financial inclusion? Your general introduction does not provide this information.
... Continue reading
Why is the case of Southern Nigeria important to study in the relationship between digital technologies and financial inclusion? Your general introduction does not provide this information.

Reply: I will attend to that

Your general introduction contains almost no authors. This is surprising.

I am surprised to see this comment, because I have more than 5 authors in the introduction

The literature review appears incomplete, is not critical, nor is there sufficient academic support for the arguments in the article. You can provide at the beginning of this section the theoretical and empirical foundation of digital technology for financial inclusion.

Reply: I will do that

The policy recommendation part needs to be revised. \

Reply: I will attend to that

References to previous research: Either compare your results with the findings from other studies or use the studies to support a claim. This can include re-visiting key sources already cited in your literature review section or saving them from citing later in the discussion section if they are more important to compare with your results instead of being a part of the general literature review of prior research used to provide context and background information.

Reply: The previous study was cited twice, in the literature review and discussion section
Why is the case of Southern Nigeria important to study in the relationship between digital technologies and financial inclusion? Your general introduction does not provide this information.

Reply: I will attend to that

Your general introduction contains almost no authors. This is surprising.

I am surprised to see this comment, because I have more than 5 authors in the introduction

The literature review appears incomplete, is not critical, nor is there sufficient academic support for the arguments in the article. You can provide at the beginning of this section the theoretical and empirical foundation of digital technology for financial inclusion.

Reply: I will do that

The policy recommendation part needs to be revised. \

Reply: I will attend to that

References to previous research: Either compare your results with the findings from other studies or use the studies to support a claim. This can include re-visiting key sources already cited in your literature review section or saving them from citing later in the discussion section if they are more important to compare with your results instead of being a part of the general literature review of prior research used to provide context and background information.

Reply: The previous study was cited twice, in the literature review and discussion section
Competing Interests: No competing Interests Close
Report a concern
Respond or Comment

COMMENTS ON THIS REPORT

Author Response 29 Nov 2023

ugwuja vivian, Agricultural Economics and Extension, University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt, 500001, Nigeria

29 Nov 2023

Author Response
1. Why is the case of Southern Nigeria important to study in the relationship between digital technologies and financial inclusion? Your general introduction does not provide this information.
... Continue reading
Why is the case of Southern Nigeria important to study in the relationship between digital technologies and financial inclusion? Your general introduction does not provide this information.

Reply: I will attend to that

Your general introduction contains almost no authors. This is surprising.

I am surprised to see this comment, because I have more than 5 authors in the introduction

The literature review appears incomplete, is not critical, nor is there sufficient academic support for the arguments in the article. You can provide at the beginning of this section the theoretical and empirical foundation of digital technology for financial inclusion.

Reply: I will do that

The policy recommendation part needs to be revised. \

Reply: I will attend to that

References to previous research: Either compare your results with the findings from other studies or use the studies to support a claim. This can include re-visiting key sources already cited in your literature review section or saving them from citing later in the discussion section if they are more important to compare with your results instead of being a part of the general literature review of prior research used to provide context and background information.

Reply: The previous study was cited twice, in the literature review and discussion section
Why is the case of Southern Nigeria important to study in the relationship between digital technologies and financial inclusion? Your general introduction does not provide this information.

Reply: I will attend to that

Your general introduction contains almost no authors. This is surprising.

I am surprised to see this comment, because I have more than 5 authors in the introduction

The literature review appears incomplete, is not critical, nor is there sufficient academic support for the arguments in the article. You can provide at the beginning of this section the theoretical and empirical foundation of digital technology for financial inclusion.

Reply: I will do that

The policy recommendation part needs to be revised. \

Reply: I will attend to that

References to previous research: Either compare your results with the findings from other studies or use the studies to support a claim. This can include re-visiting key sources already cited in your literature review section or saving them from citing later in the discussion section if they are more important to compare with your results instead of being a part of the general literature review of prior research used to provide context and background information.

Reply: The previous study was cited twice, in the literature review and discussion section
Competing Interests: No competing Interests Close
Report a concern

Views

Reviewer Report 04 Oct 2022

Lee-Ying Tay, Faculty of Business, Multimedia University, Melaka, Malaysia

Gek Siang Tan, Faculty of Business, Multimedia University, Melaka, Malaysia

Approved with Reservations

https://doi.org/10.5256/f1000research.134069.r151576

Overall, the manuscript is satisfactory with improvement needed. The comments are as below:

Is the work clearly and accurately presented and does it cite the current literature?

Answer: Partly. The manuscript should add a section of literature review discussing the latest issues on (1) digital technology for financial inclusion; (2) evidence of financial inclusion of women agripreneurs; (3) variables of interest including income, savings, and others. The authors should also cite sufficient and updated references in recent five years.

Is the study design appropriate and is the work technically sound?

Answer: Partly. The authors should add in research questions that are consistently mapped with research objectives. The authors should also add a short write-up on how the research questions and objectives are mapped since the research objective (1) and (3) are achieved through descriptive analysis.

Are sufficient details of methods and analysis provided to allow replication by others?

Answer: The total sample size is not consistent in ‘’Abstract” and ‘’Methodology”. Please further describe the formation of the sample size. It would be great if the authors can attach the survey instruments in this manuscript.

Are the conclusions drawn adequately supported by the results?

Answer: Reasoning should be given why men agripreneurs were not included in the study and provide suggestions for future research on how men agripreneurs can be studied.

Is the work clearly and accurately presented and does it cite the current literature?

Partly
Is the study design appropriate and is the work technically sound?

Partly
Are sufficient details of methods and analysis provided to allow replication by others?

Partly
If applicable, is the statistical analysis and its interpretation appropriate?

Yes
Are all the source data underlying the results available to ensure full reproducibility?

No source data required
Are the conclusions drawn adequately supported by the results?

Partly

Competing Interests: No competing interests were disclosed.

Reviewer Expertise: Area of research: Digital finance, Stock price, Digital financial products and services

CITE

Report a concern

Author Response 17 Jan 2024

ugwuja vivian, Agricultural Economics and Extension, University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt, 500001, Nigeria

17 Jan 2024

Author Response

Sorry for responding late, I will make all the necessary corrections as pointed out by the reviewer
Competing Interests: No competing Interests
Sorry for responding late, I will make all the necessary corrections as pointed out by the reviewer
Sorry for responding late, I will make all the necessary corrections as pointed out by the reviewer
Competing Interests: No competing Interests Close
Report a concern
Author Response 13 Apr 2024

ugwuja vivian, Agricultural Economics and Extension, University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt, 500001, Nigeria

13 Apr 2024

Author Response

I have made all the necessary corrections.
Competing Interests: No competing interests
I have made all the necessary corrections.
I have made all the necessary corrections.
Competing Interests: No competing interests Close
Report a concern
Respond or Comment

COMMENTS ON THIS REPORT

Author Response 17 Jan 2024

ugwuja vivian, Agricultural Economics and Extension, University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt, 500001, Nigeria

17 Jan 2024

Author Response

Sorry for responding late, I will make all the necessary corrections as pointed out by the reviewer
Competing Interests: No competing Interests
Sorry for responding late, I will make all the necessary corrections as pointed out by the reviewer
Sorry for responding late, I will make all the necessary corrections as pointed out by the reviewer
Competing Interests: No competing Interests Close
Report a concern
Author Response 13 Apr 2024

ugwuja vivian, Agricultural Economics and Extension, University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt, 500001, Nigeria

13 Apr 2024

Author Response

I have made all the necessary corrections.
Competing Interests: No competing interests
I have made all the necessary corrections.
I have made all the necessary corrections.
Competing Interests: No competing interests Close
Report a concern

Comments on this article Comments (0)

Version 3

VERSION 3 PUBLISHED 27 Jun 2022

Open Peer Review

Reviewer Status

Reviewer Reports

	Invited Reviewers
	1	2	3	4
Version 3 (revision) 11 Dec 23	read		read	read
Version 2 (revision) 16 May 23	read
Version 1 27 Jun 22	read	read

Lee-Ying Tay, Multimedia University, Melaka, Malaysia

Gek Siang Tan, Multimedia University, Melaka, Malaysia
Jean-Claude KOULADOUM, University of Moundou, Moundou, Chad
Wonder Agbenyo, Sichuan Agricultural University, Ya'an, China
Rachel Hay, James Cook University, Townsville City, Australia

William Harrington, James Cook University, Townsville City, Australia

Carrie-Ann Wilson, James Cook University, Townsville City, Australia

Comments on this article

All Comments(0)

Add a comment

Browse by related subjects

Back to all reports

Reviewer Report

8 Views

14 Jun 2024 | for Version 3

Lee-Ying Tay, Faculty of Business, Multimedia University, Melaka, Malaysia

8 Views Cite this report Responses(0)

Approved

The author has included all my suggestions.

Competing Interests

No competing interests were disclosed.

Reviewer Expertise

Area of research: Digital finance, Stock price, Digital financial products and services

I confirm that I have read this submission and believe that I have an appropriate level of expertise to confirm that it is of an acceptable scientific standard.

Respond to this report

Responses (0)

Back to all reports

Reviewer Report

10 Views

03 Apr 2024 | for Version 3

Rachel Hay, James Cook University, Townsville City, Queensland, Australia

William Harrington, College of Business Law and Governance, James Cook University, Townsville City, Queensland, Australia

Carrie-Ann Wilson, College of Business, Law and Governance, James Cook University, Townsville City, Queensland, Australia

10 Views Cite this report Responses(0)

Approved With Reservations

Is the work clearly and accurately presented and does it cite the current literature?

Partly
Is the study design appropriate and is the work technically sound?

Partly
Are sufficient details of methods and analysis provided to allow replication by others?

Yes
If applicable, is the statistical analysis and its interpretation appropriate?

Partly
Are all the source data underlying the results available to ensure full reproducibility?

Yes
Are the conclusions drawn adequately supported by the results?

Partly

Competing Interests

No competing interests were disclosed.

Reviewer Expertise

Technology adoption by women in agriculture, internet access and connectivity, women in agriculture, agricultural marketing research design, delivery and analysis, policy recommendations.

Respond to this report

Responses (0)

Back to all reports

Reviewer Report

11 Views

06 Mar 2024 | for Version 3

Wonder Agbenyo, Sichuan Agricultural University, Ya'an, Sichuan, China

11 Views Cite this report Responses(0)

Approved With Reservations

Is the work clearly and accurately presented and does it cite the current literature?

Yes
Is the study design appropriate and is the work technically sound?

Yes
Are sufficient details of methods and analysis provided to allow replication by others?

No
If applicable, is the statistical analysis and its interpretation appropriate?

No
Are all the source data underlying the results available to ensure full reproducibility?

No
Are the conclusions drawn adequately supported by the results?

Partly

Competing Interests

No competing interests were disclosed.

Reviewer Expertise

Digital finance, Agricultural Economics and econometrics

Respond to this report

Responses (0)

Back to all reports

Reviewer Report

13 Views

26 May 2023 | for Version 2

Lee-Ying Tay, Faculty of Business, Multimedia University, Melaka, Malaysia

13 Views Cite this report Responses(1)

Approved

I have reviewed the article and am pleased to share that this article is approved for indexing after careful consideration.

Competing Interests

No competing interests were disclosed.

Reviewer Expertise

Area of research: Digital finance, Stock price, Digital financial products and services

I confirm that I have read this submission and believe that I have an appropriate level of expertise to confirm that it is of an acceptable scientific standard.

Respond to this report

Responses (1)

Back to all reports

Reviewer Report

19 Views

02 May 2023 | for Version 1

Jean-Claude KOULADOUM, Department of Economics, University of Moundou, Moundou, Chad

19 Views Cite this report Responses(1)

Approved With Reservations

Why is the case of Southern Nigeria important to study in the relationship between digital technologies and financial inclusion? Your general introduction does not provide this information.
Your general introduction contains almost no authors. This is surprising.
The literature review appears incomplete, is not critical, nor is there sufficient academic support for the arguments in the article. You can provide at the beginning of this section the theoretical and empirical foundation of digital technology for financial inclusion.
The policy recommendation part needs to be revised.
References to previous research: Either compare your results with the findings from other studies or use the studies to support a claim. This can include re-visiting key sources already cited in your literature review section or saving them from citing later in the discussion section if they are more important to compare with your results instead of being a part of the general literature review of prior research used to provide context and background information.

Consideration of the above comments will improve the quality of this article.

Is the work clearly and accurately presented and does it cite the current literature?

No
Is the study design appropriate and is the work technically sound?

Partly
Are sufficient details of methods and analysis provided to allow replication by others?

Partly
If applicable, is the statistical analysis and its interpretation appropriate?

Partly
Are all the source data underlying the results available to ensure full reproducibility?

Partly
Are the conclusions drawn adequately supported by the results?

Partly

Competing Interests

No competing interests were disclosed.

Respond to this report

Responses (1)

Author Response

29 Nov 2023

ugwuja vivian, Agricultural Economics and Extension, University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt, 500001, Nigeria

Why is the case of Southern Nigeria important to study in the relationship between digital technologies and financial inclusion? Your general introduction does not provide this information.

Reply: I will attend to that

Your general introduction contains almost no authors. This is surprising.

I am surprised to see this comment, because I have more than 5 authors in the introduction

The literature review appears incomplete, is not critical, nor is there sufficient academic support for the arguments in the article. You can provide at the beginning of this section the theoretical and empirical foundation of digital technology for financial inclusion.

Reply: I will do that

The policy recommendation part needs to be revised. \

Reply: I will attend to that

References to previous research: Either compare your results with the findings from other studies or use the studies to support a claim. This can include re-visiting key sources already cited in your literature review section or saving them from citing later in the discussion section if they are more important to compare with your results instead of being a part of the general literature review of prior research used to provide context and background information.

Reply: The previous study was cited twice, in the literature review and discussion section

View more View less

Competing Interests

No competing Interests

Back to all reports

Reviewer Report

26 Views

04 Oct 2022 | for Version 1

Lee-Ying Tay, Faculty of Business, Multimedia University, Melaka, Malaysia

Gek Siang Tan, Faculty of Business, Multimedia University, Melaka, Malaysia

26 Views Cite this report Responses(2)

Approved With Reservations

Is the work clearly and accurately presented and does it cite the current literature?

Partly
Is the study design appropriate and is the work technically sound?

Partly
Are sufficient details of methods and analysis provided to allow replication by others?

Partly
If applicable, is the statistical analysis and its interpretation appropriate?

Yes
Are all the source data underlying the results available to ensure full reproducibility?

No source data required
Are the conclusions drawn adequately supported by the results?

Partly

Competing Interests

No competing interests were disclosed.

Reviewer Expertise

Area of research: Digital finance, Stock price, Digital financial products and services

Respond to this report

Responses (2)

Alongside their report, reviewers assign a status to the article:

Approved - the paper is scientifically sound in its current form and only minor, if any, improvements are suggested

Approved with reservations - A number of small changes, sometimes more significant revisions are required to address specific details and improve the papers academic merit.

Not approved - fundamental flaws in the paper seriously undermine the findings and conclusions

[1] 1. Pardhasaradhi Y, Nagender RV: Women empowerment: Information Technology as a critical input. Indian Journal of Public Administration.2014; 60(3): 515–526. Publisher Full Text

[2] 2. Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFInA) Access to Financial Services in Nigeria Survey 2018. 2018.https://www.efina.org.ng/content/efina-access-financial-services-nigeria-survey

[3] 3. Davis FD: Perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and user acceptance of information technology. MIS Quarterly.1989; 13(3): 319–340. Publisher Full Text

[4] 4. Sadiq MA, Abubakar AB, Ibrahim H: Mobile banking adoption in Nigeria: An application of technology acceptance model. Journal of Internet Banking and Commerce.2019; 24(1): 1–16.

[5] 5. Chibba M: Mhlanga: Examining the factors influencing the adoption of mobile banking in Zimbabwe: An extension of the technology acceptance model. Journal of African Business.2018; 19(3): 361–378.

[6] 6. Dabalen A, Etang A, Hoogeveen J, et al.: The impact of digital financial services on financial inclusion and stability: A meta-analysis. World Development.2020; 134: 105027.

[7] 7. Mas I, Radcliffe D: Mobile payments go viral: M-PESA in Kenya. Institute for Money, Technology and Financial Inclusion Working Paper.2021; 63.

[8] 8. Ugwuja VC, Adesope OM: Cyber risks in Microfinance Digitization: Exposures and Preventions among Female Headed Farm Households in Southern Nigeria. European Journal of Agriculture and Food Sciences.2021; 3(3): 62–68. Publisher Full Text

[9] 9. Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFInA). Access to Financial Services in Nigeria 2020 Survey. 2021.http://www.efina.org.ng/media-centre/news

[10] 10. Ifelunini IA, Wosowei EC: Does microfinance reduce poverty among women entrepreneurs in South-South Nigeria? Evidence from propensity score matching technique. European Journal of Business and Management.2013; 21: 76–87.

[11] 11. Irobi NC: Microfinance and poverty alleviation: A case study of Obazu progressive Women association Mbieri, Imo State, Nigeria. (An Unpublished Master Thesis) Sverigesantbruks University, Uppsala, Sweden. 2008

[12] 12. Yusuf A, Ahmad NH, Abdulhalim H: Entrepreneurial orientation and Agropreneurial intention among Malaysia Agricultural student.Impact of Agropreneurship.2017. http://www.absrc.org/wp-content/uploads

[13] 13. Odejimi DO: Agabada: “Industrialization: key to socio-economic development in Nigeria”. International Journal of Economic and Development Studies.2014; 5(2): 69–78.

[14] 14. Sabarwal S, Terrell K: Access to credit and performance of female entrepreneurs in Latin America. Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research.2009; 29(18): 6–14.

[15] 15. Suliman AE, Mazen JAS, Samy SA: Electronic Banking Services from the Point of View of Bank Customers in Palestine. International Journal of Academic Accounting, Finance & Management Research (IJAAFMR).2019; 3(10): 45–60.

[16] 16. Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFInA): Access to Financial Services in Nigeria Survey. 2016. http://www.efina.org.ng/media-centre/news.2016

[17] 17. Leveraging on Digital Technology for Financial Inclusion of Women Agripreneurs in Southern Nigeria. [Dataset]. Figshare. 2022. Publisher Full Text

Leveraging on digital technology for financial inclusion of women agripreneurs in Southern Nigeria

Abstract

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Keywords

Revised Amendments from Version 2

Introduction

Objectives of the study

Hypothesis of the study

Methods

Ethics and consent

Area of study

Sampling procedure and sampling size

Data collection

Data analysis

Model specification for Z-test model

(1)

Results and discussion

Conditions for accessing digital financial products and services among women agripreneurs in Southern Nigeria

Figure 1. Conditions for accessing digital financial products.

Income, savings and assets differentials among women agripreneurs who accessed digital financial products and those that did not access them

Table 1. Results of the Z-test comparing income, savings and assets of participants and non-participants in digital financial products (DFPs).

Awareness of micro-insurance schemes by women agripreneurs in Southern Nigeria

Figure 2. Awareness of micro-insurance schemes by women agripreneurs that are accessing digital financial products.

Figure 3. Awareness of micro-insurance by women agripreneurs that are not accessing digital financial products.

Figure 4. Pooled responses on awareness of micro-insurance by women agripreneurs.

Participation in micro-insurance schemes by women agripreneurs in Southern Nigeria

Figure 5. Participation in micro-insurance by women agripreneurs that are accessing digital financial products.

Figure 6. Participation in micro-insurance by women agripreneurs that are not accessing digital financial products.

Figure 7. Pooled responses on participation in micro-insurance by women agripreneurs.

Perceptions of women agripreneurs on insurance products

Figure 8. Perceptions of women agripreneurs who are accessing digital financial products on insurance.

Figure 9. Perceptions of women agripreneurs who are not accessing digital financial products on insurance.

Conclusion

Data availability

Extended data

Acknowledgements

References

Comments on this article Comments (0)

Open Peer Review

Comments on this article Comments (0)

Open Peer Review

Reviewer Status

Reviewer Reports

Comments on this article

Browse by related subjects

Competing Interests Policy

Stay Updated