Unequal partners: associations between power, agency and benefits among women and men maize farmers in Nigeria

Abstract

New agricultural technologies such as improved maize varieties (IMVs) promise important benefitsincreased incomes, lower workloads, and better food securityamong others. When such technologies are introduced, they can denaturalize and expose gender norms and power relations because the adoption of such technologies inevitably requires women and men to renegotiate the rules of the game. This article asks: How do women negotiate power relations and their expression in gender norms to secure benefits from improved maize varieties (IMVs), and more broadly, to expand their decision-making space? We draw on data from four Nigerian casestudies, two from the North and two from the Southwest. The findings are analyzed through a conceptual framework utilizing five different concepts of power. Findings are remarkably similar across all sites. Women are constrained by powerful gender norms which privilege men's agency and which frown upon women's empowerment. There is limited evidence for change in some contexts through expansion in women's agency. The implications for maize research and development is that an improved understanding of the complex relational nature of empowerment is essential when introducing new agricultural technologies.

Exploring the role and lived experiences of people with disabilities working in the agricultural sector in northern Nigeria the agricultural sector in northern Nigeria

“…Our findings further corroborate literature reviewed (e.g. Farnworth et al 2020 ) involving farmers living without disabilities in the context of gendered crop choices, where more male participants were involved in crop farming, livestock rearing and input dealing than women, who were more involved in agro-processing and animal health work than male participants.…”

“…This is mainly because even though women are said to be the main farmers or producers in some parts of the world such as SSA, their roles are often not acknowledged, and they face more obstacles compared with their male colleagues in market access, product assets and services, land, labour, financial services, technology and other inputs (see Imonikebe 2010 ; Ogunlela & Mukhtar 2009 ; Sheahan, Barrett & Sheahan 2014 ). For example, crop choice has been mostly determined by gender in Nigeria, although these associations of women and men with specific crops and livestock products is diminishing to some extent in parts of the country (see Farnworth et al 2020 ). Northern Nigeria is said to be where most households are involved in farming (Abraham 2018 ).…”

Assessment of Existing Gaps among Genders in Maize Value-Chain in Northern Nigeria

“…This suggests that more males are active in maize farming than females, corroborating earlier studies that agricultural activities are male dominated [29,30]. These results also agree with the prevailing social cultural practices in which males are the ones that represent the households in interacting with outsiders and are more empowered in the northern part of Nigeria [31,32]. Consequently, female farmers in northern Nigeria have been reported to be 28% less productive than their male counterparts [33].…”

Gender inclusivity through maize breeding in Africa: A review of the issues and options for future engagement

“…Existing literature provides insight not only on the importance of seed availability and resource access in expanded seed access, but increasingly on the importance of women's agency. The GENNOVATE initiative highlighted how social norms at the household, community, and society level undermined women's ability to choose, purchase, and productively use new technologies ( Badstue et al, 2020 ; Farnworth et al, 2020 ; Petesch et al, 2017 , 2018 ). Indeed, studies from sub-Saharan Africa have underscored that women's involvement in maize seed decisions are often superficial ( Acosta et al, 2020 ; O’Brien et al, 2016 ).…”