Publication: Finding the Time and Labor to Farm: How Social Dynamics Drive Gender Differences in Agricultural Labor in Southern Nigeria
Date
2023-03-28
ISSN
Published
2023-03-28
Author(s)
Friedson-Ridenour, Sophia
Gonzalez, Paula
Pierotti, Rachael S.
Olayiwola, Olubukola
Delavallade, Clara
Abstract
Across Sub-Saharan Africa smallholder
farmers depend heavily on manual labor supplied by their
households, families, and communities, but women are
particularly labor constrained. This research paired a
detailed quantitative examination of patterns of gender
difference in the allocation of time and agricultural labor
with an in-depth qualitative examination of how people
explain those patterns. The descriptive findings and
resulting conceptual framework can be used to guide future
programming and research. In southwestern Nigeria, married
women’s time and agricultural labor constraints are rooted
in common social expectations that men’s farm plots take
priority and that a woman’s own farming should not interfere
with the agricultural production managed by her husband.
Women access lower quantity and quality of labor because of
off-farm commitments, and time constraints around when in
the day and when in the season labor is allocated to their
farm plots. Overcoming agricultural labor constraints for
women farmers, especially married women, may require
reimagining the role of women and men’s farms in the
household. Several new Africa gender innovation lab studies
suggest avenues for future innovations to support women producers.
Citation
“Friedson-Ridenour, Sophia; Gonzalez, Paula; Pierotti, Rachael S.; Olayiwola, Olubukola; Delavallade, Clara. 2023. Finding the Time and Labor to Farm: How Social Dynamics Drive Gender Differences in Agricultural Labor in Southern Nigeria. Africa Gender Policy Briefs. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/39604 License: CC BY-NC 3.0 IGO.”