Under the Third world Network – Africa “Gender and Economic Reforms in Africa” (GERA) programme, NEST is studying the impact of economic reforms on rural women in Nigeria, through a project on the “Environmental Impacts of Multi-National Oil Corporations on Sustainable Livelihoods of Rural Women in Akwa-Ibom State, Niger-Delta Region, Nigeria”.

The Niger Delta is the nerve center of Nigeria's Oil industry. Crude oil exploration is about 2million barrels daily and accounts for over 90% of the national total export earnings (Baker, 1983; NDES, 1997). It is also estimated that the economic value of gas, if fully harnessed could exceed what is generated from crude oil. As a result various shades of multi-national oil companies operate with ease.

Over the years, but particularly in the last decade, resource exploration, environmental pollution and the mode and means of appropriation of the revenue derived from oil, have generated intense social conflict, while poverty, social dislocation and poor infrastructure development have compounded the critical issue of sustainability of the region (Chokor,1992,1993). The problem of environmental degradation in the Niger Delta is real, severe, enormous, critical, precarious and is presently calling for both national and global attention.