Mainstreaming gender into agricultural research in Nigeria

By Martins Eke

Agriculture is the backbone of Nigeria’s economy, employing a vast portion of its population and serving as a critical pillar for food security. However, despite women making up a significant proportion of the agricultural labour force—often bearing the brunt of manual labour, processing, and marketing—their contributions are often overlooked and undervalued in research and policy. Mainstreaming gender into agricultural research, which involves integrating a gender perspective into all aspects of the research process, is crucial for fostering equitable and sustainable agricultural development. Yet, in Nigeria, this process faces a myriad of systemic, cultural, and institutional challenges that hinder its progress, ultimately limiting agricultural productivity and entrenching gender inequalities. There is need to interrogate these profound challenges, delving into how traditional patriarchal norms, institutional biases, and insufficient resources create significant roadblocks to achieving gender-inclusive agricultural research in Nigeria.

One of the most formidable challenges to gender mainstreaming in Nigerian agricultural research is the deeply entrenched patriarchal system, which dictates social norms, roles, and opportunities. This system traditionally assigns different responsibilities to men and women, often confining women to the domestic sphere or to certain types of agricultural tasks, such as weeding, harvesting, and processing. Men, conversely, are typically viewed as the primary farmers, leading to a gendered division of labour where their activities are perceived as more significant.This traditional worldview directly impacts agricultural research. Researchers, often male and operating within this patriarchal context, may unconsciously or consciously focus their work on male-dominated activities like land preparation and large-scale cash crops. Consequently, research and technology development often fail to address the specific needs, constraints, and priorities of women farmers. For instance, new technologies may be incompatible with women’s time-intensive domestic and agricultural workloads or might require access to resources—like credit and land—that are disproportionately controlled by men.

Agricultural research is not conducted in a vacuum; it is shaped by the realities on the ground, including farmers’ access to productive resources. In Nigeria, systemic inequalities in access to resources such as land, credit, modern technology, and extension services pose a significant challenge to gender-inclusive research. Customary land tenure systems often prevent women from owning land, restricting their access to it through male relatives. This lack of ownership disincentivizes long-term investment in land and participation in research that requires a permanent plot.Similarly, women farmers face greater difficulty securing credit due to a lack of collateral, limited financial literacy, and institutional biases. With less access to capital, they cannot invest in new, improved technologies or inputs that research may recommend, making them less likely to be considered for research and development programmes. Furthermore, agricultural extension services have historically favoured male farmers, operating on the flawed assumption that knowledge would trickle down to women. This neglect means that research findings do not effectively reach female farmers, whose unique knowledge and priorities are also largely ignored by extension agents.

Despite Nigeria’s formal commitment to gender equality through international and regional instruments, institutional biases continue to hamper the mainstreaming of gender in agricultural research. Many research institutions and government agencies operate with a male-centric perspective, often failing to incorporate gender analysis into their policies, research design, and project implementation. This leads to the development of gender-blind technologies and programmes that neglect the needs of a large segment of the farming population.A lack of sufficient funding dedicated to gender-specific research or gender mainstreaming initiatives is another major institutional barrier. Even when gender-sensitive policies exist on paper, inadequate resources often prevent their effective implementation. This is compounded by inconsistent political commitment, where gender issues may receive sporadic attention but are not consistently prioritized in the agricultural development agenda. Furthermore, a lack of sex-disaggregated data on agricultural labour, resources, and productivity limits the ability of researchers to accurately diagnose gender gaps and develop targeted solutions.

The successful mainstreaming of gender requires more than just policy directives; it requires a fundamental shift in mindset and a corresponding increase in capacity among researchers. Many Nigerian agricultural researchers lack adequate training in gender analysis and sensitive research methodologies. They may not fully grasp the importance of understanding the differentiated roles, access to resources, and power dynamics between men and women in agriculture. This knowledge gap often leads to research designs that do not properly account for gender dimensions, resulting in biased findings and ineffective interventions.Building this capacity requires investment in training, curriculum reform in agricultural universities, and a shift towards more participatory research methods. The goal is not merely to include women in research projects but to empower them as active participants and decision-makers, ensuring their perspectives are heard and their needs are met. This requires a proactive approach to address the existing power imbalances within research teams and with the farming communities they serve.

In conclusion, mainstreaming gender into agricultural research in Nigeria is a critical step towards achieving food security, reducing poverty, and promoting sustainable development. The challenges are significant and interconnected, stemming from deep-rooted cultural and patriarchal norms, unequal access to resources, institutional inertia, and limited research capacity. Addressing these issues requires a comprehensive and multi-pronged strategy. This must include sustained political commitment, policy reforms that dismantle discriminatory practices like land tenure systems, and dedicated funding for gender-inclusive research.

• Eke writes from the Centre for Social Justice, Abuja