Abuja, Nigeria | August 28, 2025
The Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, has drawn attention to the persistent gender disparity in Nigeria’s agricultural sector, stressing that women—who constitute the majority of the workforce receive disproportionately lower rewards for their contributions.
Speaking at the National Workshop on Agro-Value Chain Capacity Building in Abuja, organised by the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs in collaboration with the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, the Minister said women form about 70 percent of Nigeria’s agricultural labour force and produce between 60 to 80 percent of the nation’s food output.
Despite this, she noted, women remain largely excluded from agricultural financing and investment opportunities due to entrenched gender imbalances in policy design and implementation. “The immense contribution of women to our food systems has not been fully rewarded,” Sulaiman-Ibrahim said.
However, the Minister’s assertion that women “earn only 30 percent of total agricultural output” could not be independently verified. Available studies confirm women’s dominance in the sector but do not provide official data to support the 30 percent earnings claim, raising concerns about the accuracy of the figure.
Experts have long affirmed that while women sustain food production across Nigeria, their access to land, credit, extension services, and decision-making remains severely limited—constraints that continue to undermine productivity and economic empowerment.
The workshop called for gender-responsive agricultural policies, equitable financing mechanisms, and stronger institutional support to close the gap and harness the full potential of women in the agricultural value chain.