KWASU don advocates land rights, credit access for women farmers
By Mosunmola Ayobami, Ilorin
A Professor of Agricultural Economics at Kwara State University (KWASU), Malete, Taibat Moji Yusuf, has called for sweeping reforms to remove structural barriers limiting women’s participation in Nigeria’s agricultural sector.
Yusuf made the call on Wednesday while delivering the university’s 23rd Inaugural Lecture, titled, “Empowering Women Farmers in Nigeria: Closing the Gender Gap for Agricultural Transformation and Food Security.” Drawing on more than three decades of field-based research, she said empowering women farmers was critical to improving agricultural productivity, strengthening food security and reducing poverty.
She urged the 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 practices remain major barriers to women’s access to credit, agricultural inputs and other productive resources.
The don also advocated gender-inclusive agricultural financing through microcredit schemes that do not require land as collateral. She urged financial institutions to develop loan products tailored to the realities of women farmers and expand digital financial services to reach women in rural communities.
Yusuf further called for reforms in agricultural extension services, including the recruitment of more female extension agents, flexible training schedules that consider women’s domestic responsibilities and the use of mobile platforms to provide agricultural advice in local languages. She also advocated adult literacy, agricultural training and stronger cooperative organisations to improve women’s management skills, technology adoption and bargaining power.
In addition, she called for greater access to mechanised processing equipment and other labour-saving technologies, as well as investments in rural water supply, electricity and childcare infrastructure to reduce the burden of unpaid domestic work on women. She said improved roads, electricity and information and communication technology would also support income diversification through off-farm employment, agro-processing and entrepreneurship.
The professor urged the government and private sector to expand contract farming and credit programmes through public-private partnerships that provide farmers with reliable markets, inputs and financing. She also recommended investments in post-harvest storage, transportation, cold-chain facilities and market information systems to reduce food losses, while promoting eco-friendly technologies such as moringa-based bio-organic fertiliser through extension services and cooperative production networks.
On policymaking, Yusuf called for mandatory gender impact assessments for agricultural programmes, greater representation of women on policy committees, agricultural boards and farmers’ unions, and dedicated budgetary provisions for gender-responsive investments. She stressed that agricultural policies must be linked with poverty reduction, education and health initiatives, noting that closing the gender gap in agriculture was essential to transforming Nigeria’s agricultural economy and improving national food security.
