A Professor of Agricultural Economics at Kwara State University (KWASU), Malete, Prof. Taibat Moji Yusuf, has called for reforms to remove structural barriers limiting women’s participation in Nigeria’s agricultural sector.
Yusuf made the call while delivering the 23rd Inaugural Lecture of the institution titled, “Empowering Women Farmers in Nigeria: Closing the Gender Gap for Agricultural Transformation and Food Security.”
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Drawing on more than three decades of field-based research, the professor said empowering women farmers was critical to improving agricultural productivity, strengthening food security and reducing poverty.
She urged the Nigerian government to reform inheritance laws to guarantee women’s rights to own and inherit land, regardless of their marital status, while promoting joint land ownership for married couples.
According to her, discriminatory land ownership practices remained a major obstacle preventing women farmers from accessing credit, agricultural inputs and other productive resources.
Yusuf also advocated the expansion of gender-inclusive agricultural financing through microcredit schemes that do not require land as collateral.
She urged financial institutions to develop agricultural loan products tailored to the realities of women farmers and expand digital financial services to reach women in remote rural communities.
The professor called for reforms in agricultural extension services, including the recruitment of more female extension agents, flexible training schedules and the use of mobile platforms to provide agricultural advisory services in local languages.
She said investments in rural water supply, electricity and childcare infrastructure would reduce the burden of unpaid domestic labour on women and free more time for farming and agribusiness.
Yusuf further recommended increased access to mechanised processing equipment and other labour-saving technologies designed around the needs of women farmers.
The don stressed the importance of adult literacy, agricultural training and cooperative organisations in improving women’s management skills, technology adoption and bargaining power.
She called for policies supporting income diversification through off-farm employment, agro-processing and entrepreneurship, noting that improved roads, electricity and information and communication technology would help rural households withstand agricultural shocks.
The inaugural lecturer also urged the government and private sector to expand contract farming and credit programmes through public-private partnerships, particularly schemes capable of providing farmers with reliable markets, inputs and financing.
She advocated investment in post-harvest storage, transportation, cold-chain facilities and market information systems to reduce food losses and enable women farmers to derive greater value from their produce.
Yusuf recommended mainstreaming eco-friendly agricultural technologies, particularly moringa-based bio-organic fertiliser, through agricultural extension services, cooperative production networks and soil fertility programmes.
She urged communities to promote moringa cultivation to ensure steady supplies of raw materials for producing the organic fertiliser.
On policymaking, the professor called for mandatory gender impact assessments for agricultural development programmes and policies, alongside greater representation of women on policy committees, agricultural boards and farmers’ unions.
She also advocated dedicated budgetary provisions for gender-responsive agricultural investments and stronger monitoring mechanisms to assess their impact.
Addressing poverty and food insecurity, Yusuf said agricultural policies must be integrated with national poverty reduction strategies, stressing that food security could not be achieved in isolation from employment, education and healthcare.
She noted that with an estimated 140 million Nigerians living below the poverty line, coordinated action across sectors had become urgent.
The professor said closing the gender gap in agriculture was not merely a question of fairness but an essential strategy for transforming Nigeria’s agricultural economy and improving national food security.
