Despite contributing as much as 50–70% of the food Nigerians consume, millions of women farmers remain structurally excluded from one of the most critical inputs of agricultural productivity: farmland.
This was the warning issued by Jaye Yekini, Project Manager at Whitegreen Development Services, who says Nigeria’s food system cannot scale sustainably while women—the backbone of smallholder agriculture—continue to face restrictive land-tenure norms, insecurity, and systemic underinvestment.
Speaking in Ibadan, Yekini noted that women farmers, though indispensable to national food production, operate under harsh constraints that weaken both their productivity and resilience.
“Women are extremely vulnerable when it comes to insecurity. Many farm less than two hectares and cannot fund private security arrangements. Their livelihoods depend largely on what government protection can provide,” he said.
A Structural Barrier: The Land-Tenure System That Works Against Women
Nigeria’s land-tenure practices—largely patriarchal and informal—continue to hold women back.
Yekini stressed that many women lack the financial empowerment required to purchase land outright, while cultural norms often prevent them from securing long-term leases.
This means women:
- farm on borrowed or temporary land
- cannot invest in irrigation, soil improvement, or storage facilities
- operate at a fraction of their potential
- face eviction risks that discourage long-term planning
“Without access to stable farmland, women cannot scale. This is shrinking their economic contribution and weakening household nutrition,” Yekini explained.
Rural Insecurity Deepens the Challenge
Beyond land access, insecurity—from farm invasions to communal conflicts—has further reduced the safe space available for women to farm, pushing many out of productive agriculture entirely.
The ripple effects are severe:
- reduced output of staple crops
- higher food prices
- more pressure on national food supply chains
- deepening rural poverty among women and children
A New Model for Empowerment: Government-Backed Land Leasing
Yekini proposed an innovative solution:
government-led land aggregation and leasing for women farmers, supported with inputs and mechanisation.
He argued that such a model would:
- give women secure access to farmland
- allow government to recover costs from post-harvest proceeds
- boost productivity through shared mechanisation
- scale female participation in profitable value chains
“With land, inputs and aggregation, women farmers will multiply Nigeria’s food output,” he said.
Women Are the Backbone of Food Production — The Data Proves It
Contrary to claims that smallholder women farmers contribute minimally, Yekini reiterated that:
- 50–70% of Nigeria’s food comes from smallholders, a majority of whom are women
- women dominate vegetable and food crop production
- they participate across the entire agricultural value chain:
- land preparation
- planting
- weeding
- peeling, threshing, drying, and processing
- land preparation
To ignore women is to undermine Nigeria’s food system.
Whitegreen Development Services: Strengthening Productivity in Oyo State
Yekini highlighted Whitegreen’s ongoing work:
- farmer training on record-keeping
- fertiliser selection and correct application
- targeted chemical use and proper dosage
- optimisation of weeding and field operations
- mechanisation services for improved efficiency
He called for closer government partnerships to expand such services across the state and country.
BRANDECONOMY Insight
The crisis facing women farmers is not merely a gender issue — it is an economic and national security issue.
Nigeria sits at the crossroads of rising food inflation, declining productivity, climate disruptions, and rural insecurity. Women, who anchor the country’s staple crop production, are being sidelined by structural barriers that weaken the entire food value chain.
Three realities stand out:
- Productivity cannot rise without land access.
Even world-class inputs and mechanisation fail when farmers are land-insecure. - Women farmers represent Nigeria’s fastest path to food stability.
Their dominance in vegetable, grains, legumes and processing means every naira invested in them delivers exponential returns. - A land-leasing model is economically sound.
Cost recovery through harvest proceeds aligns incentives and reduces fiscal pressure on government.
If Nigeria is serious about food security, then women must move from the margins of agricultural policy to the centre of national strategy.
