Over 60% of all employed women in Sub-Saharan Africa work in agriculture. In Nigeria alone, women represent 75% of the agricultural workforce. They are involved in all aspects of the value chain from crop production, forestry, fishery, livestock farming to providing food products to our markets and plates.
In spite of the massive contributions women make to Nigeria’s agric sector, which had a nominal GDP of 22.65% in Q1 of 2021, they are severely held back by factors that hinder their productivity.
Male farmers in the country are not left without their crop of challenges, but women farmers specifically face double struggles because of their gender-particularly because of harmful laws, customs and policies that leave them in a disadvantaged position.
Research shows that if the gender yield gap can be closed, we could feed about 150 million people. But closing the gender gap in agriculture will require action on three fronts. The first is access to land rights.
In Nigeria, women have less than 14% landholding rights. Women rarely own lands because of customary laws which subject them to access lands through a male relative most commonly a husband, brother, or father. This arrangement usually leaves them vulnerable at the hands of the death, divorce or fate of a male partner who might be unwilling to assist them.
The consequence of this affects the way they farm because they are constantly at risk of displacement. The lands could be taken away from them without their control and their efforts and investments will be a waste.
But improving access to lands is only a step in closing the gap. Women are majorly hindered by equal access to resources- inputs, seeds, fertilizer, training, markets and loans that will improve their agricultural practices.
In Kenya, Malawi, Sierra Leone, Zambia and Zimbabwe, studies show that women are less likely to benefit from financial services. Hence, improving access to flexible loans and agricultural inputs is crucial to empowering women farmers.
By leveraging technology, HerVest, Nigeria’s first female-focused inclusive digital platform plays a key role in providing credit facilities to female farmers. Through its gender lens investing strategy, the firm pools capital from its female users to impact-invest in women farmers in Northern and Southern Nigeria.
These loans are flexible- because we observed a significant challenge these women faced in regards to accessing loans was that it was not flexible and timely.
When some of them are granted loans, they’re expected to pay back immediately without putting into consideration the harvesting period and seasonal cycle of the farm produce. These loans have to be convenient to enable them to plan.
Some of these loans were also needed to access inputs like seeds, fertilizers and equipment to expand their farming operations.
HerVest also provides women farmers with markets and training to stay ahead of updated farming practices. To improve the quality of their yields, women farmers need to be informed of the best practice of input application which ultimately leads to a secured outcome of outputs. This timely information enables them to work smarter, faster and with less waste.
The final step is the adoption of gender-inclusive policies. Women are often invisible to policymakers because they are perceived as less productive farmers. Policymakers must begin to recognize women farmers for the multiple roles they play.
The government should also promote gender-sensitive programs and responsive approaches to ensure women farmers have equal access to and use of productive resources. These responsive programs will go a long way in addressing existing inequalities.
In conclusion, If a synergy between the financially underserved woman and the woman-farmer who is most financially excluded can be established, it will offer a level-playing field for all women to grow significantly. This development will ultimately drive expansion in the Agricultural sector which is key to improving food security and alleviating poverty.
