Measuring the Social Return on Investment of Rural Entrepreneurship Programmes in the North Central Zone

This study applies social return on investment methodology to measure the social value generated by rural entrepreneurship development programmes in the North Central geopolitical zone of Nigeria, providing evidence on whether the social outcomes produced by these programmes justify their costs relative to alternative poverty reduction investments. Social return on investment analysis, which monetises social outcomes to calculate a ratio of social value created per naira invested, offers a more comprehensive evaluation framework than purely financial analysis for programmes whose objectives include employment creation, community capability building, and poverty reduction alongside individual business development. The study applies SROI methodology to four rural entrepreneurship programmes operating in Niger, Kogi, and Benue States, combining programme expenditure data with stakeholder outcome mapping, outcome valuation, and attribution analysis. Primary data were collected through surveys of 120 programme beneficiaries and 30 community stakeholders, supplemented by focus group discussions. Financial proxies for social outcomes including income improvement, food security enhancement, and community empowerment were identified from published Nigerian social impact literature. Findings indicate that the four programmes generate SROI ratios ranging from 1.8 to 4.2 naira of social value per naira invested, with significant variation explained by programme design quality, targeting accuracy, and post-support enterprise survival rates. The highest-SROI programme combines enterprise skills training with market linkage facilitation and peer network development. Recommendations include the adoption of SROI as a standard evaluation tool for federal and state rural enterprise programmes. Keywords: social return on investment, rural entrepreneurship, North Central Nigeria, programme evaluation, social impact.