In 2019, the Government of Nigeria launched the National Gender Policy in Agriculture, informed by research by the CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions and Markets (PIM). The ultimate goals of this policy are the enhancement of food security and the acceleration of development in Nigeria. 

The policy aims to promote the adoption of gender-sensitive and -responsive approaches in the agricultural sector and ensure that men and women have equal access to, and control of, productive resources.

From 2016 to 2019, PIM scientists at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) engaged with and presented research findings to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), civil society, donors, and academic and research institutions at various policy events, conferences and seminars. IFPRI’s research included studies on youth employment in agriculture, the disparities in land rights and access to land between women and men, and women’s perceptions of land tenure security. Among other findings, these studies showed that when women have access to farm inputs and markets, and make decisions on agricultural production, either independently or together with their male counterparts, the chances of increasing productivity are very high. 

When women have access to farm inputs and markets and make decisions on agricultural production … the chances of increasing productivity are very high.

IFPRI was a member of the FMARD advisory committee for the development of the policy and contributed to several sections of the document on: training of agricultural officers to identify and address gender issues in agriculture; mainstreaming attention to gender in agricultural extension, and climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts; empowering women through building the skills of women’s groups on financial management (for instance, opening and maintaining bank accounts); and monitoring and evaluating the implementation of the policy and assessing the differential impacts of projects and interventions on women and men. 

Implementation of the policy is expected to contribute to achieving gender-based reforms and increasing productivity by men and women participating in the agricultural sector.  

The policy is expected to contribute to increased productivity by men and women in the agricultural sector.

IFPRI’s engagement in Nigeria started in 2007 through the Nigeria Strategy Support Program to enhance the capacity of FMARD, State-level Ministries of Agriculture and the Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria for evidence-based policymaking. The Nigeria Strategy Support Program, under the PIM umbrella since 2012, has supported the development and implementation of other national policies such as the Agricultural Transformation Agenda and the Agricultural Promotion Policy. 

Header photo: A woman sells fufu, a staple food made from cassava, in a marketplace in Abuja, Nigeria. Photo by M. Mitchell/IFPRI