How women are marginalised in agric-Alhassan

Minister for women affairs and social development Aisha Alhassan has said gender inequalities limiting the ability of women to produce in agriculture are hampering national productivity. Speaking at a national policy dialogue on policies to favour Nigeria’s smallholder women farmers in Abuja, Mrs Alhassan said: Despite women playing a critical and potentially transformative role in […]

Minister for women affairs and social development Aisha Alhassan has said gender inequalities limiting the ability of women to produce in agriculture are hampering national productivity.

Speaking at a national policy dialogue on policies to favour Nigeria’s smallholder women farmers in Abuja, Mrs Alhassan said: Despite women playing a critical and potentially transformative role in agricultural growth in our societies, they often face persistent obstacles and economic constraints limiting further inclusion in agriculture.”

She said: “By failing to close the gender gaps in agriculture, the work is paying dearly and as a country with dwindling foreign reserve, we need to pay more attention to agriculture.”

Her comments, which were delivered by the ministry’s permanent secretary Binta Bello, came as the Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre (WARDC) released its women-in-agriculture report which showed women had poor access to land, resources, finance and information necessary for agricultural work, even though they did up to 80 percent of agricultural labour.

The report found 53 percent of women could only farm on land but didn’t make major decisions about how farm land was used.

WARDC project officer Folake Kuti, who presented the report, said less than 20% of land holding rights were vested in women across four states of Benue, Osun, Kwara and Enugu, even though more than 70 percent of women in each state was involved in at least one form of agriculture.

She said women are five times less likely to get a bank loan or some other facility to aid agriculture, and new information about their work cannot get to them because culture in especially the north of the country prevents agricultural extension agents, mostly men, from reach small holder women farmers, who are predominantly female.

Without enabling environment, women farmers fall into debts due to their harvest wasting and are ripped off by produce marketers.

Kuti said policies in Nigeria have been largely “gender neutral and have no specific provisions targeting women” and noted the latest report recommends affirmative action, review of land use policy, and involvement of women groups in policy and decision making.