The United Nations has called on the Nigerian government to move beyond policy pronouncements and accelerate the implementation of gender-responsive agricultural policies to address the structural barriers limiting women’s participation and productivity in the sector.
The call was made on Monday, 31st of August 2026 in Abuja at a press conference ahead of Nigeria’s activities to commemorate the International Year of the Woman Farmer (IYWF) 2026, proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly to recognize the contributions of women farmers to food security, nutrition, poverty reduction and sustainable agri-food systems.
Speaking at the event, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Nigeria Country Representative, Dr Hussein Gadain, represented by Programme Officer Jimmy Owani, said the observance should not be treated as merely ceremonial but as a global call to action to tackle inequalities restricting women’s economic potential in agriculture.
Gadain noted that women play a critical role in Nigeria’s agri-food systems as farmers, livestock keepers, fish farmers, processors and traders. However, he said they continue to face barriers to land, finance, technology, agricultural inputs, extension services and decision-making opportunities.
He described investment in women farmers as both an issue of equity and a strategic necessity, noting that addressing these gaps would contribute to increased agricultural productivity, improved household incomes, better nutrition outcomes and stronger community resilience to climate-related and other shocks.
According to him, FAO has been working with federal and state governments, women farmers’ associations, research institutions and development partners to promote women’s empowerment through climate-smart agriculture, livelihood diversification, value addition, market linkages, financial inclusion and skills development.
He, however, urged stakeholders to move from recognition to concrete action, particularly through increased investment in women-led agri-food enterprises, improved access to land and technology, stronger extension services and greater participation of women in agricultural governance and decision-making.
Also speaking, the UN Women Country Representative to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Beatrice Eyong, said women account for a significant proportion of the labor involved in food crop production, processing and distribution in Nigeria, despite continuing to operate within structural constraints.
“Though women provide about 70 per cent of the labor in agriculture, they continue to face structural constraints and obstacles that prevent them from performing to their full potential,” Eyong said.
She identified access to land as one of the most significant challenges confronting women farmers, stressing that the issue extends beyond ownership and control to basic access to productive farmland.
According to her, climate change is further worsening the situation by increasingly pushing women away from fertile agricultural land, thereby increasing their workload while reducing productivity.
Eyong also cited limited access to agricultural knowledge and extension services as a major constraint, noting that gender and cultural barriers in rural communities could prevent women from fully benefiting from extension programmes.
She added that restrictions on access to technology, finance and markets, coupled with social norms that may limit women’s ability to travel for economic activities without their husbands’ permission, continue to undermine their economic participation.
Highlighting the impact of targeted interventions, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) Country Director, Dede Ekoue, said UN-supported projects had reached more than 100,000 women in Nigeria through about $47 million in investments incorporating targeted inclusion thresholds.
Ekoue said the International Year of the Woman Farmer provides an opportunity to change the perception of women from passive beneficiaries of agricultural interventions to producers, entrepreneurs, innovators, leaders and key economic actors.
She disclosed that more than 221 market, processing and storage facilities were constructed or rehabilitated in 2025, while over 4,500 units of smart technology and clean-energy equipment were distributed to improve productivity, processing and value addition.
She added that more than 87,888 women now belong to supported rural producer organizations, while 82 women State Apex Leaders across 16 states had received leadership training to strengthen their participation in cooperative and community decision-making.
Ekoue further disclosed that about 21,015 hectares of land had been rehabilitated and placed under climate-resilient practices, with approximately 6,500 hectares facilitated specifically for women and youth.
On financial inclusion, she said about ₦465 million had been mobilized in savings among 21,498 active savers, while clean-energy interventions had provided biodigesters and related equipment to more than 780 rural women households across six states.
Ekoue stressed that the interventions were designed not merely to increase women’s participation in agriculture on paper but to improve the actual conditions under which they operate by enabling them to own productive assets, access finance and technology, build profitable enterprises and take on leadership roles.
She said such on-the-ground results demonstrated the type of implementation that government policies must be scaled up to achieve meaningful and lasting impact.
Meanwhile, the United Nations disclosed that its agricultural investments are designed to target 48–50 per cent women beneficiaries, 30 per cent youth and five per cent persons with disabilities.
