Gender Differentials on the Challenges of Land Acquisition Among Arable Crop Farmers in Southwest Nigeria

Abstract

The study took place in Southwest Nigeria and assessed the gender differentials on the challenges of land acquisition among male and female arable crop farmers. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 168 male arable crop farmers and 168 female arable crop farmers to make a total of 336 respondents. Analysis of the quantitative data was done using descriptive and inferential statistics, while content analysis was used to analyze the qualitative data. The results show that male and female arable crop farmers faced the challenges of high population of land users, inadequate credit facilities to acquire land, family dispute on land, poor soil fertility and high costs of rent in acquiring land, while female arable crop farmers faced the challenge of spouse restriction in acquiring land. There was a significant difference between male and female arable crop farmers’ challenges of land acquisition. It was concluded that male, as well as female, arable crop farmers in the study area face one challenge or the other in acquiring land for arable crop production, but female arable crop farmers face more challenges compared to their male counterparts. Gender-responsive policy formulation and implementation was recommended to ease access to land for male and female arable crop farmers.