Gender issues in agriculture and rural development in nigeria: the role of women (original) (raw)
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Gender Issues in Agricultural Extension and Rural Development in Nigeria
Rural Development - Contemporary Issues and Practices, 2012
Rural Development-Contemporary Issues and Practices 140 role of women in agricultural and rural development can therefore not be overemphasized when considering rural and national development of Nigeria. Rural Development will therefore take place when attention is paid to various relevant institutions such as the cooperative societies, land tenure system, bank and credits, development of viable local government areas, educational institutions, medical institutions, and agricultural marketing outlets. Nigerian women in agricultural activities Rural development is the mainstay of agriculture and agricultural development in developing countries (including Nigeria) therefore all efforts geared towards agricultural development will be fruitless without it. Women in Africa (including Nigeria)generally play an important role in small-scale traditional agricultural production (Afolabi,2008) Rural women have taken over the production and processing of arable crops and are responsible for as much as 80% of the staple food items. Estimates of women's contribution to the production of food crops range from 30% in the Sudan to 80% in the Congo contributing substantially to national agricultural production and food security (OECD,1992). Most farmers in Nigeria operate on the subsistence and smallholder level in an extensive agricultural system; therefore, in the country's food security lie in their hands. Women farmers are the principal labour force on small holder farms and perform the largest share in land preparation, weeding, transporting, processing and marketing of agricultural products. Women therefore contribute greatly to agricultural production in Nigeria as take the lead in most agricultural activities They make up to 60-80 percent of the labour force. Therefore the significant role they play in meeting the challenges of agricultural production and development are quite dominant and prominent. OECD,1992). The importance and relevance of women in agricultural development can therefore not be overemphasized This is because they are known to be more involved in agricultural activities than men in sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries including Nigeria.
The thrust of this study examined and analysed impediments to the participation of women in their household decision-making and socioeconomic empowerment of the woman in the 21stcentury, with emphasis on Nigeria, and how to emancipate rural women from political mediocrity and stagnancy through taking responsibility for their lives especially in the involvement in agricultural production which is the main activity and mainstay of the rural woman in Nigeria..Over 75% of Nigerians are subsistent farmer, holding small level extensive agricultural practice that accounts for the county's food security and agricultural development. Of note is that fact more than their male counterpart rural women account for very close to 80% of the work force in the agricultural sector, surprisingly though a curious conspiracy ignores this humungous contribution by women to agricultural development by women in Nigeria, what is however most worrisome is the woman's lack of decision-making power both at and nationally in all matters regarding agriculture.The dominance of gender division of labour occasioned by gender dynamism constitute the most striking bottleneck to all the effort by women in this all important sector in the rural areas, the institutionalized gender discrimination against women will have to be removed if their effort must be recognized and if it must yield significant result for women to work or farm their way out of poverty. The role of women-in-agriculture programme in ameliorating the inadequacies of the various education program with regards to women has been remarkable in providing women organizations with a voice that will attempt to echo their problems to the ears of the authority an ear which is deafened by gender consideration and role delineation. The effort has resulted in women farmers now enjoying better access to farm inputs and credits although many barriers remain and would have to be addressed to further enhance their role. Rural women farmers deserve better recognition and greater appreciation of their tangible contributions to agriculture and rural development and food security. Other aspects of gender issues in Nigerian agriculture are discussed.
Economic Empowerment for Rural Women in Nigeria: Poverty Alleviation through Agriculture
Journal of Agricultural Science, 2015
Generally, rural women are majorly involved in agricultural activities such as planting, weeding, harvesting, processing and marketing. They also keep some domestic animals and birds. Empowering rural women will go a long way to improving the economic life of the women and also the well-being of individuals, families and the rural communities. Social, cultural traditions and agricultural constraints can limit rural women's economic status. Rural women's limited access to productive resources, low educational level and illiteracy are contributors to rural women's poverty. Illiteracy affects their chances to benefit from newer, non-traditional methods such as: information and communication technologies. The promotion of agricultural development should be through the provision of useful and relevant information to the farming communities by the extension services. The unpaid work that women perform at home and farm are not recognized for official record. There are many constraints making rural women farmers to be lagging behind economically, apart from lack of agricultural information. The main constraints are the lack of personal land and credit. There is evidence that empowering women in multiple ways will contribute to their own food security and nutrition and that of their families. Women are limited in terms of their potential in contributing to agricultural development. Reducing the gender disparities or discrimination will generate significant gains for the agricultural sector. There is the need for national laws and policies that promote women's rights to own land, property and have equal access to credit for their businesses.
Patriarchy and Women's Agricultural Production in Rural Nigeria
The crucial importance of women's contribution to food security in developing countries like Nigeria cannot be over emphasized. It is estimated that about 80% of women in rural areas are engaged in food crops production. Rural women are regarded as the mainstay of small scale agriculture. In most developing countries such as Nigeria, the concern for increasing women's economic participation especially in food production can be seen within the wider general concern to alleviate the economic conditions of the poor households, esp cially those in the rural sector, majority of whom are-women and who occupy lower socioeconomic status compared to their male counterparts. Nigeria is a patriarchal society and inheritance is patrilineal which invariably-creates severe cultural inhibitions to the aspiration and productive capacity of women. This paper therefore discusses the constraints faced by women in Nigeria as producers and income earners for their families by focusing on women's burden of reproduction, decision making power, access to and ownership of land, capital, information and technology. In discussing this, it is recognized that both women and men are an integral part of the solution to increasing agricultural productivity and improving household food security and nutrition.
Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 2018
This study focuses on the involvement of women in agricultural production in Cross River State, Nigeria. The objective is to ascertain the contributions of women to food sufficiency in the state and the challenges they face in course of their farming process. The study attempted to answer the following research questions; what is the level of contribution of women in agriculture to food sufficiency in Cross River State? What are the inhibiting challenges to agricultural production by women in Cross River State? A total of 900 women across the State were examined to capture their involvement and contribution to agricultural production as well as the challenges they face in this process. Data was generated through questionnaire, interview and observation and were analyzed with simple percentage technique and presented on tables and graph. The study discovered that women in agriculture in cross river are active contributors to food sufficiency through the remarkable increase in their crop production index. Second; women are faced with challenges that inhibit robust food production in the state such as land restriction, limited access to capital/access to credit, gender inequality/discrimination and lack of storage facility. On the basis of this the study advocates policy change to give women access to more land and credit facilities. Traditional norms that hinder women access to land be relaxed through government conscious pressure on local culture. Robust assistance to fund women agriculture should become the priority of the state and the local governments through conscious policy of soft credit facilities with minimal collateral.
Rural women and Agricultural Production in Imo State South-Eastern Nigeria: Problems and Prospects
Despite rural women's immense contribution to agriculture and food security in Imo State, they still face the challenge of lack of access to and control over productive resources. Productive resources such as Land, labour and capital are the bedrock of agricultural production. Land Inheritance right in rural areas generally favours men over women (Mutangadura, 2014). Women rarely own land in rural areas and when they do; it is only small holding plots, which they do not have control over (Afolabi, 2008). As a result, they have limitation over the choice of crop portfolio, investment on input because they lack tenure security that provides motivation and certification for such long term investments. Thus, these lacks inhibit their productive capacity and affect their livelihood. There is need to expand, reform and democratize access to productive resources in rural areas so that rural women can access them without hindrances. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations opines that if women had the same access to productive resources as men, they will be more likely to increase yields on their farms by 20-30 percent (FOA,2007).
Journal of Agricultural Economics, Environment and Social Science, 2024
Women are the most disempowered, experiencing inadequate right to land and decisionmaking in agricultural production resources. The study analysed barriers in access to productive agricultural resources by women farmers in southeastern zone of Nigeria. Purposive and random sampling methods were used in selecting 500 respondents. Percentages and Likert-scale were used in analysing the data. The results show that women had little access to most vital productive assets in the following proportion 19.8% (land), 35.4% (credit), 33.3 (extension services, 1.9% (tractor) and 1.9% (insurance). Illiteracy (mean score (MS) of 4.62), poor access to credit (MS of 4.20) and lack of government support/incentives (MS of 3.91) were the major militating factors against women farmers' access to these productive resources. The study concluded that women were constrained with many problems in accessing productive resources. It is recommended that land tenure policies to be reviewed to favour women's access, acquisition and use of land while moderating the men's over-hoarding of agricultural productive resources.
Rural Women ’ s Involvement in Agriculture in Okpo District , Kogi State , Nigeria
2017
The study assessed rural women’s involvement in agriculture in Okpo District, Kogi State, Nigeria. Data were collected from 120 randomly selected rural women farmers using a structured questionnaire. Data were analyzed using frequencies, percentages and mean scores. Results of the study showed that cassava (80%), groundnut (75%), vegetables (62.5%), cowpea (60%), maize (57.5%) and bambaranut (56.7%) constituted predominant crops grown by the respondents while poultry (63.3%), goats (70.8%) and sheep (41.7%) were the major livestock reared. Findings also indicated high involvement of farmers in land clearing (91.6%), weeding (90.9%), sowing/planting (88.4%), harvesting (87.5%), transportation of produce/products (85.8%), processing (77.3%), marketing (79.2%) and storage (67.5%). Major constraints to participation in agriculture included limited access to land (M = 2.26), lack of access to credit (M = 2.15), limited time for agricultural activities (M = 2.07), lack of access to inputs...
IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 2020
Gender inequality of women participation in agricultural production has become a worrisome discussion in the present dispensation. This is because women constitute large portion in agriculture business. The study therefore examines this issue, stressing on the extent of women’s participation in agriculture. The highest frequency of women that engage in farming all year round is 48 (30.0%), 44 (27.6%) respondents engage in farming activities half a year, 35 (21.8%) engage quarterly in a year. While cultural practices 36 (22.5%) form the highest causes of gender inequality and women’s participation in agricultural production in Warri South Local Government Areas of Delta State, using data collected through questionnaire interview from 160 subjects. The study reveals that gender inequality of women in agricultural participation has considerable impact on the production process.