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How to cite this paper: Omiunu, O.G. (2014) Investigating the Challenges Faced by Women Rice Farmers in Nigeria. Open
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Investigating the Challenges Faced by
Women Rice Farmers in Nigeria
Ojinga Gideon Omiunu1,2
1Africa Regional Centre for Information Science, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria
2Unicorn Academics and Organisation, Developmental Research Centre, Ibadan, Nigeria
Received 8 July 2014; revised 10 August 2014; accepted 15 September 2014
Copyright © 2014 by author and OALib.
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY).
http://creativ ecommon s.org/l icens es/by/4.0/
Abstract
The study investigated the major constraints faced by women rice farmers in Nigeria. The study
employed a survey research design. One hundred women rice farmers were randomly selected
and information were obtained with the aid of well-structured questionnaire. The frequency, per-
centage, t-test and regression analysis were used to analyze data obtained. The study revealed
that, only 26% had negative productivity, 53% had positive productivity, few (31%) had a positive
profit of above 100,000 Naira and others have a profit of between 1 - 100,000 Naira. Personal sav-
ing was the best source of finance or capital for women rice farmers. Lack of finance is one of the
major challenges faced by women rice farmers. Other challenges include credit availability and
accessibility, lack of mechanized/technological equipments, level of degradation, among others.
Also, result showed that only government support as a source of finance was negatively significant
and affected women rice farmers’ productivity negatively. The study recommended that, women
rice farmers should endeavour to undergo various developmental programmes to develop them-
selves so as to increase their competitive advantage in their locality and also in the local and glob-
al agricultural sector. In addition, governments and other policy makers should strategize plans
and programmes that would contribute to women rice farmers, agriculture, community and na-
tional development.
Keywords
Nigeria Women Rice Farmers, Challenges of Women Rice Farmers
Subject Areas: Agricultural Science, Business Analysis
1. Background to the Study
In developing economies, such as Nigeria, Rice (Ory za sativ a) is a major staple food [1] for millions of people,

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the fastest growing commodity in Nigeria’s food basket [2] and is cushioning the effect of under-nutrition and
severe hunger among many households as it is commonly eaten in many localities and processed into different
forms. The Nigeria population according to the Nigerian Population Census was approximately 150 million and
the N iger ia do mestic econo my i s pred omina ntly do mina ted b y agri cultur e [3], and accounts for about 40% of the
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employs two third of the labour force [4].
The National and International Research Institute (NIRI) in Nigeria have developed over 52 varieties of rice
with potential yield of 2 - 8 tonnes paddy per hectare and maturity period ranging from 95 - 140 days [5]. Never-
theless, domestic production of rice in Nigeria is not meeting the Nigerians’ demand [6] and may be partly due
to the huge import bill o n rice in the nation. De mand for rice has been increasi ng at much faster r ate in Nigeria
than i n othe r West Africa n co untrie s si nce t he mid 19 70 s. Niger ia ’s per-capita rice consumption level has grown
sig n ificantly at 7.3% per annum, rising from about 3.0 kilograms in the 1970s, to 18 kg in the 1980s, to 22 kg in
1990s [4], to 22.0 kg at 3.0 million metric tonne as deficit in the 1999 [7]. In addition, small-holder farmers
dominated rice production in Nigeria with 0.5 - 1.5 hectares per farmer using manual labour for virtuall y all its
operations.
Despite the seemingly bright employment and poverty reduction potentials of rice production and marketing,
families with low income are prevalent in Nigeria as over 70% are poor [8]. Consequently, majority of the rice
traders cannot conveniently make the product available to consumers at the right time and at a profit margin re-
quired to keep them in operations [9]. Nigerians prefer the local rice because of its agreeable taste and smell [10].
Farmers including women farmers face enormous pressures as the nation integrates more into the world econo-
my. Apart from women involving in the carious chains of economic activities in the Nigerian rice industry like
harvesting, pa rboiling, drying, milling/threshin g etc., they also embark on the production of rice. Rahman et al.
state that, women play vital role in food production processing and marketing in Nigeria such as rice production;
producing about 60 - 80 percent of total output [11]. Although, Umeh & Ataborh observed that, rice producers
are dominated by males which accounts for 85.8% while women accounts fo r only 14 .2% [4].
Nigerian women have made considerable contribution to agricultural production and have been found in the
production of crops such as ya m, maize, cassava, rice and other food crops and also now constituting the major-
ity of smal lholder farmers in many parts of the nation such as in t he South West, Sout h East, So uth among others,
providing most of the labour and managing many farms on a daily basis [12]. It is however observed that, the
impact of both external and internal factors, can affect women farmers [13], which could individually and jointly
influence their performance. Most importantly, self-sufficiency in rice production has eluded Nigeria for a long
time despite the effort made by the Government of Nigeria for over 36 years towards realizing self sufficiency
[4].
Despite the immense contributions of women to agriculture, various findings have reported that women far-
mers generally, and particularly in Nigeria have so me challenges such as, lack access to ad equate productive re-
sources such as land, credit, agricultural inputs, education, extension services, and appropriate technology, due
to var ious socio-economic factors [14]. In addition, Ajayinoted that, in spite of the suitable weather and enorm-
ous manpo wer and availab le facilities for the culti vation of rice, Niger ia is not yet among the world leading rice
producers due to the challenges faced by rice farmers especially women rice farmers in Nigeria and how these
challenges are affecting their productivity negatively [15]. Watson also, clearly noted that, women-owned far-
mers perform less than men owned farmers, because they are combated with various challenges that have nega-
tive influence s on their p erformances [16].
This has made gender issue become a critical cross-cutting factor in innovation process to promoting equity
and enhancing the relative access of farmers to necessary resources through programmes targeted at promoting
household food security and poverty reduction [17] and al so gender equity. Access to and source of finance and
credit is another major issue as women farmers need credit to be able to increase their production in the devel-
opme nt o f Agr iculture. [18]. Lack of access to credit has impede farmers especially women farmers productivity
and performances. Nsien opined that credit provision is a useful tool for empowering women and the poor/less
privileged, as well as for poverty alleviation [19]. To this end, this st udy seeks t o investigate constraints faced by
women farmers growing rice in Nigeria. In connectio n to this obj ective, the follo wing re sear ch quest ions would
guide the study:
1) What is the level of productivity of women rice farmers in Ekiti State, Nigeria?
2) What are the major sources of support for women rice farmers in Ekiti State, Nigeria?
3) What are the major constraints affecting women rice farme rs productivit y in Ekiti Sta te , Nigeria?

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2. Background to the Study
HO1: There is no significant difference in the productivity among women rice farmers in Nigeria.
HO2: Sources of support for women rice farmers do not have significant effect on their rice productivity in
Nigeria.
HO3: Problems/constraints encountered by women rice farmers in Nigeria do not have significant influence
on their rice productivity.
3. Previous Studies Section
In Sub-Saharan Africa countries, women play active part and rely on their income from rice to meet variety of
personal and household needs [20] [21]. Many women in developing economies such as Nigeria have become
involved in rice production irrespective of their economic and social backgrounds. Apart from the need to earn
wages and become financially independent, women see rice production as a means of employment because ma-
jority of them are not adequately educated for white-collar jobs, which in any case are not readily available. Rice
cultivation is also a means to fight hunger. In addition, some women (10%) reported that they became rice far-
mers simply because they got married to rice farmers, while some were motivated by others [21]. These reasons
are closely related to the socio-economic profile of the individual farmers and the economic realities of the
country.
Female rice cultivators in developing countries such as Nigeria fall mostly within the age brackets 20-25
years and above 40 s stages of life [21]. This is the period when women tend to shoulder more reproductive
and/or productive responsibilities as mothers, single parents or widows. The fact that most of them (64%) are
marr ied and 54% have between 6 to 10 persons in their household s, justifies their involvement in rice cultivation.
Rice production was a solution introduced by women to tackle their general problems of economic dependency
and hardship. In other words, bargaining over who does what in the process of rice production does not take
place in a vacuum. It is closely influenced by the historical context, social norms, and differential access to re-
sources and opportunities by men and women [21]-[23].
Ayoola et al. observed that, the gross margin profit for male farmers was N117 820.00 and was observed to be
significantly affecting their productivity while for female farmers, their gross margin was N76 165.00 and did
not have significant effect on their productivity [6]. T his revealed that, productivity of males was more than their
female counterparts and the males were able to maximize their profit better than the female rice farmers. In ad-
dition, Oj o, in his study, tech nical efficiency of rural women farmers in Bor no State, Nigeria, observed that, de-
terminants of technical efficiency among rural women farmers were education, off farm income, time on farm,
age, credit and land ownership, which would possibly increase the farmers productivity [12].
In respect to the sources of financial resources by farmers, Balogun et al. r evealed that, less than half (44.1 %)
of the credit needs of households which also include farmers considered in their study were met through the help
of friends/family and cooperatives sour ces [9]. These financial sources offer households greater access to credit
in terms of volume, pay-back period and interest rates. In another study, Adebayo & Adeolaa lso inves tiga ted the
sources and use s of a gricultur a l cred it a mong small-scale far mers in Oyo State [24]. The study revealed that, co-
operative societies was the highest source of farmers’ credit (84.7%), followed by personal savings, friends/rel-
atives (62.5%). In addition, 60% have their cred it source from es usu clubs (trad itional savings associa tion).
Of the constraints affecting rice farmers, the cost of rice, the taste and its nutritive value explain the shift in
consumer preference from other traditional food crops to rice in West Africa such a s Ni geria. This ha s also made
farmers to inte nsify rice pr oduction due to shift in the co nsumptio n patt ern o f hous eholds. According to WARDA,
the most important factors contributing to the shift in consumer preferences from traditional staples to rice are
rapid urbanization and associated changes in family occupational structures [25]. This is because rice is easy to
prepare, takes relatively less cooking time, and it is also easy to handle and serve.
In addition, Amaza et al. found that lack of awareness due to low literacy rate hinders women’s access to farm
resources in Nigeria and thus affect their productivity [26]. Rice farmers are also affected by several factors in-
cluding poor access to good quality seed, fertilizers and agrochemicals, poor producer prices, lack of mecha-
nized equipments for threshing and winnowing which reduces quality of paddy rice, increases labour cost; lack
of access to credit and market information. Improved access of farmers to these resources would likely increase
farm productivity and reduce production costs; thereby increasing the competitive capacity of rice farmers [6].
Furthermore, the efficiency factors affecting the productivity of the female farmers include farming expe-

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rience, marital status, number of extensio n visits and household size [6]. Age rel ated ne gativel y with e fficie ncy
of productivity but was not significant in Olagunju et al.’ wo r k [27]. Nevertheless, Ayoola et al. observed that,
age would influence rice production negatively, implying that the older the rice farmers the less the vigour for
farming. Other variables such as farming experience, educational level, land, marital status and total variable
cost influence rice production positively, implying that rice pr oduction could be increased by increasing the use
of land and varia ble inputs such as fertilizers, herbicides and labour [17].
According to Phillip, Nkonya, Pender & Oni, the various constraints to agricultural development and produc-
tivity in Niger ia which also cuts across women rice productivity are poor agricultural pricing policies, low ferti-
lizer use, low access to agricultural credit, low and unstable investment in agricultural research, poor funding
and c oord inatio n of agri cultur al ext ensio n, land tenure system and land degradation and poor market access and
marketing efficiency [28]. Ndanitsa et al. reported that some of the constraints faced by farmers were those of
poor rural infrastructure, limited capital to increase volume of coverage, lack of trained man-po wer, low le vel of
educational status, and lack of availability of e xtension educ a tion [29]. These factors have jointly led to the large
gap observed in rice demand and domestic production over the years [30]. In a ddition, the de mand for rice had
risen steadily while do mestic pro duction increased at a much lo wer rate and it is a little wonder that the demand
will still increase due to the expected increase in population by over 50 percent between the years 2000 and
2020 [31].
4. Theoretical Underpinning
Many studies have addressed the provision of facilities and resources for farmers and their effect on farmers’
productivity in many countries. Such studies include (in India) [32] [33]; (in Zimbabwe) [34]; in USA [35]
among others. In Nigeria, many studies in this respect have a l s o been done [10] [36]-[40].
Women play vital roles in food production, processing and marketing in Nigeria; producing about 60 - 80
percent of total output [11] , and contributing about 60 - 80 percent of agricultural labor force [41]. They also
contribute more than two-thirds of their produce towards household subsistence [42] [43]. It has been estab-
lished that in Sub-Saharan Africa which Nigeria is part, there is gender inequality in farmers’ access to adequate
productive resources such as land, credit, agricultural inputs, education, extension services, and appropriate
technology [6]. This has affected their productivity and has resulted in relative inefficiencies in farming sys-
tems.
5. Research Methodology
The study empl o ye d t he s urvey resea rc h d esign. In the So uth-Western part of Nigeria, Ekiti State r emains o ne of
the least developed economically and about 87.0 percent of the state population are farmers, of which “70 per-
cent are actively engaged in rice production” [44]. The study used primary data, which was obtained with the aid
of que sti on na ir e. T he q uest io nnai re was divided into six sections: Section s A, B, C, D , E, and F c o nsist i ng o f the
socio-economic characteristics of women rice farmers, farming infor mation, sources of farm support, resources
and inputs used by farmers, productivity of farmer, and challenges or constraints faced by farmers.
The study employed the simple random sampling technique. A sample size of one hundred women rice far-
mers was used fo r this study. The questio nnair e was subjec ted to validation usin g the Cronbach’ alpha and a re-
liability of 0.77 was obtained. This implies that, the instrument was reliable to measure the variables of the
study.
Information and data obtained from respondents were subjected to analysis using the descriptive statistic, such
as frequency and percentage. In addition, the t-test and regression analysis were used for this study to test for
significance and to determine relationship between variables of interest at 0.05 level of significance. The regres-
sion a nalysis was given by:
112 2ji i
Ya bXbXbXe=++ +
(1)
where Y = dependent variable, a = the intercept value of the regression, b1 - bj = ar e the regression coefficients,
X1 - Xi = the explanatory variable and ei = error term.
In this study, Xs, which are the independent variables are:
Y: Productivity of Rice Farmers;
X1: Labour A vailability;

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X2: Credit Availability;
X3: Faming Experi ence;
X4: Age;
X5: Educational Level;
X6: Marital Status;
X7: Household size;
X8: Farm Size;
X9: Land A vailability ;
X10: Sour ces of Finance.
6. Result and Discussions of Findings
6.1. Productivity of Women Rice Farmers
The level of productivity of women rice farmers was presented in Table 1. The result showed that, only 26%
have a negative productivity, 53% had positive productivity, but few (31%) had a positive profit of above
100,000 Naira, others had a profit of between 1 - 100,000 Naira. This implies that, 26% of women rice farmers
were not making significant profit, and 53% are making positive performance or productivity on their rice farm,
nevertheless, this profit was skewed and favored only about 31%.
6.2. Sources of Financial Support
The distribution of women rice farmers’ sources of financial support was presented in Table 2. The result
showed that women rice farmers depended mostly on personal savings as 83.7% admitted that their sources of
financ ial supp ort ca me from it. Also, 74.5% also sourced for financial support from farmers association, 78.0%
from families and relatives. Other financial support for women rice farmers are financial institutions (30.1%),
friends (25.3%), government (16.0%) and community aids (10%). This implies that personal saving and farmers
associations were the most impor tant services for women farmers’ financial supports.
6.3. Challenges Militating against Women Rice Farmers
Challenges militating women rice farmers productivity are presented in Table 3. The result revealed that source
of finance was one of the major challenges faced by women rice farmers as 91.7% attested to this. Credit availa-
bility and accessibility was also another important factor (88.4%). Also, 84.5%, 84.3%, 83.7% and 82.3% stated
that lack of mechanized/technological equipments, level of degradation, poor access to farming/marketing in-
for matio n for eas y marke t penetr ation, a nd hig h cost of farming expenditure respectively were also major chal-
lenges facing them, and are thus affecting their productivity.
In addition, availability of fertilizers and other agro-chemicals (61.0%), poor coordination of agricultural ex-
tension officers (57.7%), poor producer prices (57.5%), lack of awareness of farm resources (46.3%) and also
low demand for rice (12.8%) affect their performances and productivity.
Table 1. Distribution of productivity by women rice farmers.
Frequency Percent
Negative Productivity 26 26.0
Zero Productivity 1 1.0
Positive Productivity
1 - 5000 N aira
5001 - 20,000 Naira
20,000 - 50,000 Naira
50,000 - 100,000 Naira
Above 100,000 Naira
53
9
6
5
2
31
53.0
9.0
6.0
5.0
2.0
31.0
Missing Val ues 20 20.0
Tota l 100 100.0

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Table 2. Distribution of sources of financial support for women
rice farmers.
Sources Frequency Percent
Persona l s avings
Yes 82 83.7
No 16 16.3
Tota l 98 100.0
Financial institutions
Yes 28 30.1
No 65 69.9
Tota l 93 100.0
Friends
Yes 24 25.3
No 71 74.7
Tota l 95 100.0
Families and relative
Yes 76 78.0
No 19 22.0
Tota l 95 100.0
Government
Yes 16 16.0
No 84 84.0
Tota l 100 100.0
Farmers association
Yes 73 74.5
No 20 21.5
Tota l 93 100.0
Community aids
Yes 10 10.6
No 84 89.4
Tota l 94 100.0
6.4. Test for Hypothesis
6.4.1. Hypothesis One
The t-test result for hypothesis HO1, was presented in Table 4. The result showed that the t-value was −1.974
wit h a p-value of 0.05. This implied that the hypothesis HO1 which stated that ther e is no significant di fference
among women rice farmers productivity in Nigeria was rejected (t-value = −1.974; p = 0.05) . Thus, the re wa s a
significant difference among women rice farmers productivity in Nigeria.
6.4.2. Hypothesis Two
The regression analysis for hypothesis two is presented in Table 5. The result revealed that only government

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Table 3. Distribution of challenges.
Frequency Percent
Sources of finance
Yes 88 91.7
No 8 8.3
Tota l 96 100.0
Credit availability and accessibility
Yes 84 88.4
No 11 11.6
Tota l 95 100.0
Farming expenditure
Yes 79 82.3
No 17 17.7
Tota l 96 100.0
Low demand for rice
Yes 12 12.8
No 82 87.2
Tota l 94 100.0
Lack of awareness of farm resources
Yes 43 46.3
No 52 54.7
Tota l 95 100.0
Poor access to good quality seed
Yes 54 60.7
No
35
39.4
Tota l 89 100.0
Poor producer prices
Yes 50 57.5
No 37 42.5
Tota l 87 100.0
Lack of mechanized/technological equipments
Yes
71
84.5
No 13 15.5
Tota l 84 100.0
Poor access to farming/market information for market access
Yes 72 83.7
No 14 16.3
Tota l 86 100.0
Poor coord ination of agric extension officers
Yes 49 57.7
No 36 42.3
Tota l 85 100.0
Low degradation
Yes 70 84.3
No 13 15.7
Tota l 83 100.0

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Table 4. t-test result for hypothesis one.
N Df Mean Std. dev t-Value p-Va lue Significance
Women ri ce producti vity 80 79 −1.58E6 6.88 −1.974 0.05 Significant
Table 5. Regression analysis for sources of financial support.
B Std. Error Beta t-Va lue p-Value Significance
Cons tant 2699347.6 2553306.3 1.057 0.29 N.S
Persona l s aving 504274.9 602402.2 0.14 0.837 0.41 N.S
Finan cia l institutio ns −344025.6 656060.1 −0.09 −0.524 0.60 N.S
Friends 1023594.9 710124.7 0.24 1.441 0.15 N.S
Government −177279 7273325.2 −0.36 −2.451** 0.02 S
Families & relatives −245163.7 7011561.3 −0.05 0.349 0.73 N.S
Farmer’s association 248975 .2 639334.2 0.051 0.389 0.70 N.S
Community aids −231725.9 700197.5 −0.04 −0.331 0.74 N.S
Dependent variable: Women rice farmers’ productivity; N.S―Not significant; S―Significant; ** = 5% level of
significance.
support as a source was negatively significant as it affected women rice farmers’ prod uctivity negatively (t-value
= −2.451; p < 0.05). Nevertheless, other financial support sources were not significant (p > 0.05). Also, the
ANOVA result for the jo int effect of the women rice farmer s do not show a si gnificant effect on their p roductiv -
ity (F = 1.040; p > 0.05).
6.4.3. Hypothesis Three
The regression analysis result to hypothesis three is provided in Table 6. The result confirmed that only labour
availability, credit availability and farming experience were significant. Labour availability was negatively sig-
nificant (t-value = −2.31; p < 0.05) and credit availability was also negatively significant (t-value = 2.53; p <
0.05). Nevertheless, farming experience was positively significant (2.35; p < 0.05). This implies that labour
availability and credit availability have influenced women rice farmers’ productivity negatively, while farming
experience had influenced them positively.
The effect of the joint challenges on women rice farmers was presented in Table 7 and t h e r e sult s howed that ,
all c hallenges have not had significant effect on women rice farmers’ performances (F = 1.597, p > 0.05).
7. Discussions of Findings
The result of this study a high percentage made positive perfor mance or productivity, however this perfor mance
was skewed to favor only about 31%. This bolstered the findings of Ayoola et al. t hat, t he gro ss margi n for fa r-
mers productivity was low and thus coul d not be maximized to have significantly effect on the i r productivity [6].
The result showed that personal saving and farmers associations were the most important services and sources
for women farmers’ fi nancial supports. This implies that in Nigeria, wo men play an activ e part and rely on their
income from rice to meet a variety of needs. This revealed that, majority used their income or earnings from rice
to support themselves. T he result from this findi ngs contrasts Balogun et al.’ result that, friends/family and co-
operatives sources offer households greater access to credit in terms of volume, pay-back period and interest
rates [9]. The findi ngs fro m this study bo lstered the work of Adebayo & Adeola that, dependence on co-opera-
tive societies for agricultural credit was the highest source of farmers’ credit, followed by personal savings,
friends/relatives, 60% have their credit source from esusu clubs (traditional savings association), while money
lending and credit from produce buyers accounted for 33.3% of the sources used by the respondents for agricul-
tural credit [24].
The study also revealed that sources of finance was one of the major challenges facing women rice farmers

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Table 6. Regression analysis for challenges facing women ri ce farmers.
B Std. Error Beta t-value p-value Significance
Cons tant 862699.5 2110299.8 0.409 0.68
Labour availability −1322206.2 572187.4 −0.33 −2.31** 0.03 S
Credit availability 1166478.1 461940.9 −0.350 −2.53** 0.02 S.
Farming experi ence 132742.5 376720.8 0.05 2.35** 0.03 S.
Age −274812.4 420822.7 −0.09 −0.65 0.52 N.S
Educational level −32665.2 318719.3 −0.02 −0.10 0.92 N.S
Marital status −1598.0 526218.8 −0.008 −0.003 0.97 N.S
Household size −154297. 7 680489.5 −0.008 −0.24 0.81 N.S
Farm size −62252.7 495383.9 −0.03 −0.13 0.90 N.S
Land availability 222649.2 642750.3 0.11 0.35 0.73 N.S
Sources of finance 140179.1 678253.8 0.06 0.21 0.84 N.S
Dependen t variable : women rice far mers’ produc tivity; Adjusted R2 = 0.12; N.S = Not significant; ** = 5% level
of significance.
Table 7. ANOVA result of effect of the joint challenges on women rice farmers ’ productivit y.
Sum of square Df Mean sq F p-va lue Significance
Regression 1.193 16 7.456
1.597 0.103 Not significant Residual 2.428 52 4.669
Tota l 3.621 68
productivity. Credit availability and accessibility were other important factor. Also, lack of mechanized/tech-
nological equipments, level of degradation, poor access to farming/marketing information for easy market pene-
tration, and high cost of farming expenditure respectively were also major challenges faced by women rice far-
mers, and are thus affecting their productivity. In addition, availability of fertilizers and other agro-chemicals,
poor coordination of agricultural extension officers, poor producer prices, lack of awareness of farm resources
and also low demand for rice were also challenges facing women rice farmers. There was a significant differ-
ence among women rice farmers productivity in Ekiti, Nigeria.
The result showed that government support as a major source of farmers’ support affected women rice farmers’
prod uctivity negativel y while o ther financial s upport so urces were not si gnifica nt. Also th ere was no j oint effect
of financial sources of women rice farmers on their productivity. In addition, labour availability and credit
availability had influenced women rice farmers’ productivity negatively, while farming experience had influ-
enced them positively. This implies that both external and internal factors can affect women farmers. The result
of this study also concur with the findings of Rahman who noted that, despite the immense contributions of
women to agriculture, women farmers generally, a nd particularly in Nigeria, lack access to adequate productive
resources such as land, credit, agricultural inputs, education, extension services, and appropriate technology, due
to various so cio-eco nomic factors had affected women rice farmers productivity [11] . This could buttressed why
Ajayi noted that, i n spite of the suitable weather and enormous manpower and available facilities for the cultiva-
tion of rice, Nigeria is not yet among the world leading rice producers due to the challenges faced by rice far-
mers especially women rice farmers in Nigeria and how these challenges are affecting their productivity nega-
tively [15]. This also buttressed Watson who clearly noted that, women-owned farmers perform less than men
owned farmers, because they are combated with various challenges that have negative influences on their per-
formances [16].
In addition, this study bolstered Amaza et a l. tha t lack o f awar eness due to lo w literacy rate hindered women’s
access to farm resources in Nigeria and thus affect their productivity [26]. It could be that, women rice farmers

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are not fully aware of credit availability or/and how to access them and thus affecting them negatively. The study
also buttressed the findings of Ayoola et al. that, rice farmers including women rice farmers are also affected by
several factors including poor access to good quality seed, fertilizers and agrochemicals, poor producer prices,
lack o f mecha nized eq uipments for t hreshing and winno wing which reduces q uality of paddy rice, increases la-
bour cost; lack of access to credit and market information [32]. In addition, the findings of this study bolstered
the fi ndings of Ndanitsa et al. who reported that some of the constraints faced by farmers were those of poor ru-
ral infrastructure, limited capital to increase volume of coverage, lack of trained man-power, level of educational
status, and avai la bility of extensi on education [29].
Age, educatio nal level, land availabilit y, marital stat us, household size a nd others were n ot significant in this
stud y. Thi s contrast s the findi ngs of WARDA [25], and Ayoola et a l. [6] that the efficiency factors affecting the
productivity of the female farmers include farming experience, marital status, number of extension visits and
household size. The result showed that, all challenges have not had significant effect on women rice farmers’
performances. This contrast Kazeem who stated that, challenges affecting rice farmers’ productivity have jointly
led to the large gap observed in rice demand and do mestic production over the years as the result of this study
does not show a joint effect of these challenges on women rice farmers in Nigeria [30].
8. Conclusion and Recommendation
In conclusion, major sources of financial resources for women rice farmers were personal saving and farmers
associations. Also, only credit availability and poor access to quality seed were observed to affect women rice
farmers productivity, howbeit in a negative form. In addition, all challenges have not had significant effect on
women rice farmers’ productivity. Productivity among rice farmers was skewed to a little few. Various recom-
menda tio ns provided by this study include:
• Women rice farmers should endeavour to undergo and attend various developmental programmes to develop
themselves so as to increase their competitive advantage in their locality and also in the local and global
agricultural sector.
• Governments and other policy makers should strategize plans and programmes that would contribute to wo-
men rice farmers, agri cult ural, co mmunity a nd nat ional deve lopme nt. These programmes should train, equip
and provide necessary information about access to resources such as financial resources.
• Also, the provision of credit facilities and schemes should also be made available for farmers especially
women rice farmers so as to enhance the potentials of their pro ductivity leading to personal, family, co mmu-
nity and national development.
• Governments should also try to provide necessary resources that could be of importance to women rice far-
mers’ access to such resources such as availability of fertilizers, quality seed provision, provision of farm
mechanisms and technology.
• In ad ditio n, awar enes s programmes to create awareness for information provision to women rice farmers such
as agricultural information, weather information, marketing/market information, and other information neces-
sary f or th eir productivity should a ls o be provi ded not only by governm ents but other private organizations.
• There should be attention given to research and development in respect to agricultural sciences and also em-
ploying agricultural extension officers/agents who would go and present such information to women rice
farmers to enha nce their pro ductivities and also agricultural productivity in Nigeria.
• The government and private organization should also partner together to bring about positive change on
women rice farmers development and also enhancing their productivity.
• The government should also provide a policy that could make foreign investors to come and invest in the
Nigeria farming system especially in increasing the chances of women rice farmers in the Nigeria agricultural
sector so as to improve their productivity a nd that of the economy.
• Also, foreign bodies attracted to developing women or women rice farmers should also see the agricultural
sector as a major part of entrepreneurship development and also see women in agriculture as women in en-
trepreneur and invest in them to enhance their potential for success, productivity and their competitive ad-
vantage over their male counterpart and also among other businesses.
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Appendix
Questionnaire
Dear respondent,
This questionnaire was designed to study “the major constraints faced by women rice farmers in Nigeria”. Your
maximum support is highly needed as you fill in relevant information. Information filled will be stric tly used for
research purpose. Thanks
Section A: Demographic Characteristics
1) Age:
a) below 25 b ) 26 - 35 c) 3 6 - 45 d) 45 - 55 e) above 55
2) Marital status:
a) Married ( ) b) Single ( ) c) Widowed ( ) d) Divorced/Seperated ( )
3) Level of Educational:
a) no formal education b) Primary education c) secondary education d) tertia r y education
e) informal ed ucation
4) Level or years of experience:
a) 1 - 5 yrs b) 5 - 10 yrs c) above 10 yrs
5) Household size:
Section B: Farming Information
6) Is land available for your farming activities?
a) Yes ( ) b) No ( )
6b) What is the form of land acquisition:
a) purchase ( ) b) Inheritance ( ) c) Lease/Rentage ( )
7) Farm Size: (Acres).
8) Do you have labour availability?
a) Yes ( ) b) No ( )
9) Do you have available inputs or resources for your farm?
a) Yes ( ) b) No ( )
9b) If No, why ( Give Reason):
10) How is labour for farm activities?
a) Cheap ( ) b) Moderately cheap ( ) c) Cost ly ( ) d) Very Costly ( )
11) How often do you go to farm?
a) Once a week ( ) b) Twice a week ( ) c) Three Tim es a w eek ( ) d) Four Times a week ( )
e) Every day ( )
Section C: Sources of Farm Support
12) What are the sour ces of support to your farming? (You can tick more than one)
Sources Tick (√) where appropriate
Persona l Savings
Financial Institutions
Friends
Families and Relative
Government
Farmers Association
Community Aids
Others (Please s pecify th em)

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Section D: Resources and Inputs Used by Farmers
13) What are the inputs/resources used and what are their costs?
S/N Var i ab le Items Costs/Month Fixed Items Costs/Month
i. Labour Land
ii. Seeds Machines/Technology
iii. Fertilizer/chemicals Tools
iv. Weeding Others
v. Cultivation of Land
vi. Planting
vii. Others
Section E: Productivity of Farmers
14) How much did you realised from your farm products?
15) Where you satisfied with t he output fr om yo ur farm?
a) Yes ( ) b) No ( )
16) If No, why?
17) If yes, to what level are you satisfied with the output of your farm?
a) Not Satisfied ( ) b) Satisfied ( ) c) Moderately Satisfied ( ) d) Very Satisfied ( )
Section F: Challenges or Constraints Faced by Farmers (You Can Choose More Than One)
18) What are the challenges that are facing you in rice production? Please tick (√) the ones you know it af-
fects yo ur farmin g pro d uct ivity.
Items
Sources of finance
Credit availability
Availability of finance
Farming expenditures
High Demand for rice
Lack of awareness to farm resources
Poor access to good quality seed
Poor producer prices
Lack of mechanized/technological equipments
Access to market information
Use of fertilizers a nd other Agrochemicals
Poor agr icultural pricing policies
Poor funding
Poor coord ination of agricultural extension
Land degradation and
Poor market access