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Ajadi et al. Agric & Food Secur (2015) 4:26 DOI 10.1186/s40066-015-0048-y Agriculture & Food Security RESEARCH Open Access Rural women’s farmers access to productive resources: the moderating effect of culture among Nupe and Yoruba in Nigeria Adebola Adewumi Ajadi1, Oladimeji Idowu Oladele2*, Koichi Ikegami1 and Tadasu Tsuruta1 Abstract Background: This paper analyzes ownership and control of productive resources by gender as determined by culture. This is premised on the fact that past researchers have isolated gender and productive resources on one hand and gender and culture on the other. In this paper, the novelty is the exploration of the interplay among culture, gender and productive resources. Using a descriptive quantitative research design, a simple random sampling was used to select 100 households from a sampling frame of 200 households generated through house listing in three vil- lages from Patigi Local Government Area of Kwara State. Data were collected with a structured questionnaire covering ownership, and decision making on selected productive resources and analyzed using Frequency counts, percent- ages and Chi-square test statistics based on the fact that the variables are categorical. Gender and ownership as well as decision making were cross-tabulated and then layered with culture as a third variable. Results: The results were disaggregated along Nupe and Yoruba culture as well as along gender lines for the selected productive resources covered in this paper. Men predominate in ownership of productive resources among Yoruba than Nupe culture. Women from Nupe culture had higher distribution of ownership in the productive resources than men particularly land, small livestock and non-mechanized farm equipment. The results further show higher propor- tion of ownership of productive resources among men in Yoruba culture. Women in Nupe culture had greater propor- tion of ownership of productive resources than Yoruba women. Males make decision to sell all productive resources except small livestock and also make decision in almost all the farming activities listed except when and who will take crop to the market in both Nupe and Yoruba cultures. Conclusion: Culture has a stronger influence on women’s access and control of productive resources than the mere biological differentiation of gender into male and female. There is a strong cultural influence among Nupe and Yoruba women as a result of the interplay of gender, ownership and decision making and culture on selected productive resources. Keywords: Productive resources, Gender, Nupe, Culture, Yoruba, Gender Background are mostly rural women but they do not have access and Women are the backbone of the development of rural control over all land and productive resources [1]. Cul- and national economies as they represent 43 % of the tural issues have had significant influence in rural house- global agricultural labor force and in Africa, 80 % of the hold economies, which over the years depend strongly on agricultural production comes from small farmers, who agriculture. Culture consists of a whole complex of dis- tinctive spiritual, material and intellectual features that characterize a society or social group. It includes not only *Correspondence: [email protected] 2 Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, Mafikeng the arts and letters, but also modes of life, the fundamen- Campus, North-West University, Private Bag X 2046, Mmabatho 2735, tal rights of the human being, value systems, traditions South Africa and beliefs [2]. Cultural factors refer to a set of beliefs, Full list of author information is available at the end of the article © 2015 Ajadi et al. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/ publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated. Ajadi et al. Agric & Food Secur (2015) 4:26 Page 2 of 9 moral values, traditions, language and laws held by a considerations has impeded livelihood activities a great nation, a community or other defined group. Issues asso- deal particularly among women. ciated with culture are deeply embedded in the tradition Thamaga–Chitja and Morojele [10] stated that the of the people which govern their indigenous knowledge patriarchal nature of rural discourse regards women as system with wide applications in their livelihood pursuits minors under the authority of men as heads of house- [3]. Ogwumike [4] stated that culture and religion mod- hold, which denies women to have direct access to agri- erate the role and livelihood activities of women in most culturally productive resources. Oladele [11] stated that parts of Nigeria as well as their access to land and other language as a cultural element is one of the main fac- productive resources. Culture therefore structures and tors influencing access to agricultural information dis- determines the way social institutions shape life as well as seminated through radio and television in Nigeria. The cultivated and imposed behavior communally transmit- language of radio and television broadcasts in an ethni- ted from one generation to another. Due to the fact that cally diverse countries in Africa may increase agricultural development involves changing cultural attitudes and information uptake by farmers, compared to use of offi- institutions, cultural approach is one of the determinants cial languages that are not understood by most farmers. of the success of development strategies in many parts of Although language is not peculiar to women, the mag- Africa. Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United nitude of the limiting effect of such exclusion could be Nations (FAO) [5] reported that social customs limit enormous when women experience that in many other women’s participation in decision-making processes and productive resources. Culture is an important variable their exposure to economic opportunities that arise, thus which has effect on the economic activities such as farm- increasing the level of inequality vis-à-vis their partners. ing; thus, the behavioral pattern and meaning people Cultural and institutional factors often limit women’s ascribe to culture requires the knowledge or their history access to land ownership, labor, and capital. Access to and belief system [12]. land is often restricted to usufruct rights; women can- Rural settlements in Nigeria are either dispersed, clus- not provide collateral for credit because they may not tered or lined depending on the historical factors under- have legal ownership of tangible assets. A study of the lying its founding, geographical and social factors as well evolution of land tenure institutions in western Ghana as the nature of the prevailing agricultural economy [13]. shows that the gender implications of land ownership are Settlement patterns refer to the manner that a population complex and subject to change over time [6]. In Nigeria, distributes itself within the geographical space it occu- women constitute a substantial proportion of the coun- pies. With rural people, this has to do with how the peo- try’s farming population and provide about 60–80 % of ple locate themselves in relation to their farms. Village the rural labor input, performing multiple roles for the organization also refers to the patterns of social inter- survival of their families [7]. Many other literature have action, ordering and governance of rural settlements. shown various contributions of women to agricultural These affect the strategy that a change agent may employ production in Nigeria. However, women’s access to pro- to effectively reach his change targets. Clustered settle- ductive resources is limited; it seems that they seldom ments are common among the Yoruba, Hausa and Nupe, have the right to decide whether to sell some important whereas scattered settlements prevail in the Ibo, Ibibio assets of their family, or, what kind of crops they grow and Tiv areas. Line settlements are found along river on farms. Damisa and Yohanna [8] revealed that, though courses and new roads [13]. female farmers are heavily involved in agriculture, the In Nigeria, Nupe is one of the minor ethnic groups in level of their participation in farm management deci- Nigeria and are about 1,245,000 in population, and their sion making such as purchases and sales of farmland or location along the Niger River has always made them farming equipment is quite low. The role of women in important in riverine trade and also rice production. decision-making process in Nigerian agriculture should The landscape of Nupe communities is characterized be further explored. Stamp [9] indicated that the ide- with undulating land formations of hills, rivers, flood ology and practice of kinship and kin relations as the plains and highlands. There is always a seasonal change superstructure of production relations is central to the of landscape character especially during the raining sea- shaping of production relations, economic work and sons when river Niger and river Kaduna overflow their the fulfillment of kin obligations were inseparable both bounds, which turns highland open bush into swamps. conceptually and in practice. Ogwumike [4] noted that The crops cultivated on the highlands of Nupe commu- discrimination, a situation where unequal opportuni- nities are millets, yam, cassava, maize and groundnut; ties are given to some people to participate in the pro- sugarcane and rice are cultivated on the flood plains duction process on the basis of gender, age and ethnic [14]. As such the landscape types of either flood plain or Ajadi et al. Agric & Food Secur (2015) 4:26 Page 3 of 9 highlands have historically formed the basis on the spe- leadership of the ward. Each compound has a Bale who is cialty of crops cultivated by various Nupe communities.

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