WOMEN’S ACCESS TO AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION RESOURCES IN THE RURAL AND PERI-URBAN KANO, NIGERIA

This paper examines the nature of women's access to land and other agricultural production resources in Kura Local Government Area of Kano State. It uncovers the nature of women's land tenure status and access to other agricultural production resources including capital, fertilizer, farming implements, extension services, etc. One hundred women (twenty-five respondents in each ward) were interviewed using the Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) Technique in four wards of the study area. Women in Kura were found to face a range of difficulties with regard to access to basic agricultural production resources. Land accessibility through other means than inheritance proves very difficult for the women, thus about two-thirds of the respondents inherited farmlands. Slightly higher than two-thirds of the respondents hired labour while one-fifth work on their farmlands and 14% worked on others' farms as hired labourers. In order to motivate and enhance women's performance for sustainable agricultural development, the study recommends that Government provides women with agricultural inputs such as fertilizer, seeds, and formal credit in good time and at affordable prices because of their poverty level, and the procedure for obtaining credit should be made as simple as possible because of the high illiteracy rate among rural women.