Gender Gaps in Agricultural Productivity in Nigeria: Evidence and Policy Implications

This study provides rigorous empirical analysis of gender gaps in agricultural productivity in Nigeria, quantifying the gap magnitude, identifying its drivers, and deriving evidence-based policy recommendations. Gender productivity gaps in African agriculture are well-documented in regional literature but have been insufficiently analysed in the Nigerian context using nationally representative data. This study uses nationally representative farm household survey data from the Nigeria Living Standards Measurement Study Integrated Surveys on Agriculture for the 2018 to 2023 panel waves. A Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition approach is applied to decompose the gender productivity gap into components attributable to differences in productive input endowments and components attributable to differential returns to inputs. Farm-level productivity is measured using crop output value per hectare. Findings reveal a gender productivity gap of 32 percent, with female-headed farm households producing significantly less per hectare than male-headed equivalents. Decomposition reveals that 68 percent of the gap is attributable to input access differences, particularly fertiliser, improved seeds, and hired labour, rather than differences in farming knowledge or management skill. If women had the same access to productive inputs as men, the gender productivity gap would close to approximately 10 percent. The study concludes that gender productivity gaps in Nigeria are primarily driven by input access inequalities. It recommends gender-targeted input subsidy provisions and women's agricultural credit programmes.

Keywords: gender productivity gap, agricultural productivity, Nigeria, Oaxaca decomposition, women farmers.