IWD 2025: Accelerating Actions through Women's Empowerment in the Agricultural Sector
In 2025 as we celebrate International Women's Day with the theme "Accelerating Actions," it is important to draw attention to the role and obstacles faced by women in agriculture.
Agriculture is a vital sector in Nigeria, employing approximately 38% of Nigeria’s total employment. While data from the World Bank indicates that women are more likely to choose agriculture as a career path than other professions, they are still 10% less likely to work in the sector than men.
Some of the reasons for their low participation in the agricultural sector in Nigeria include lack of education and agricultural training, limited access to agricultural technologies and resources, social and cultural barriers, and poor women’s land rights and ownership.
For instance, 25% of women are less likely than males to be key landowners. Of those women who own lands, 30% produce less per hectare than their male counterparts. All of these are some of the reasons that contribute to women's lower engagement in agriculture, according to research by the World Bank.
In Nigeria, there is a higher number of males who work in the agriculture sector than females.
According to a 2018 report by the World Bank Group, the proportion of women in some African countries involved in agriculture appears to be higher than in Nigeria. For example, women make up 56% of the total agricultural labor force in Uganda. In contrast, Nigeria has a lower percentage, with women accounting for 37% of the agricultural labor population.
Closing the Gender Gap
Research shows that 21.1% of the working population of Nigerian women are involved in one form of agricultural activity which is higher than their involvement in other career paths. This shows that women are more likely to choose agriculture as a career path than other careers.
Although women play a crucial role in subsistence farming, especially in developing countries like Nigeria, structural, social, and economic barriers continue to limit their productivity.
One of such barriers is the issue of land ownership for women. Cultural and legal traditions that favour male inheritance often restrict women's access to land. In agribusiness, secure land ownership directly impacts productivity, income generation, and decision-making power.
In Nigeria, only 8% of women own land, which significantly restricts their capacity to increase agricultural operations, obtain funding, and invest in sustainable farming methods.
The potential of women in agriculture is ultimately limited in the absence of institutional changes that protect their land rights and ownership.
Also, female farmers continue to have limited access to other vital resources like funding. Offering focused financial services would promote overall economic expansion. Designing an inclusive policy framework that promotes financial inclusion would lessen economic inequality and give women the resources they need to innovate in agriculture.
Additionally, supporting organizations that advocate for and empower female farmers in Nigeria can help enhance productivity and promote their inclusive participation at all levels of agriculture.
For instance, as a means to encourage and build capacities of female small-scale farmers in Nigeria, the Small Scale Women Farmers Organization in Nigeria (SWOFON) improves the quality and quantity of agriculture to generate revenue that meets the needs of smallholder Women Farmers and builds their resilience.
According to the association, ‘‘Our goal is to Spur Rural Village Economic Development, Increase Food Production Through Capacity Building of Smallholder Women Farmers, innovative technology-driven solutions, financial inclusion, Climate resilience and Agroecology, Budget tracking and monitoring of public government expenditure vis a vis the Maputo/Malabo declaration.’’
Empowering women farmers is essential to raising Nigeria's agricultural output and guaranteeing long-term food security.
Thanks for reading this edition of SenorRita. It was written by Kafilat Taiwo and edited by Adijat Kareem.
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