Budgeting for Equality: Supporting Small-Scale Women Farmers in Nigeria

Small-scale women farmers play a critical role in Nigeria’s food system, yet they continue to face systemic barriers—limited access to land, credit, training, and decision-making spaces. As poverty deepens and its gendered impacts grow, Gender-Responsive Budgeting (GRB) is increasingly recognised as a vital tool for change.

Evidence from across Africa shows that GRB helps ensure public spending delivers real benefits for women, men, and excluded groups in agriculture. By applying a gender lens to budgets, governments can better fund, implement, and oversee programmes that support smallholder farmers and close gender gaps.

What the policy brief says

Published on 2 September 2024, the policy brief “Synthesis Report on Gender Responsive Budgeting for Small Scale Women Farmers in the 2024 Budget of the Federal Government” reviews existing studies on GRB and analyses Nigeria’s 2024 budget for the Ministry of Agriculture.

Using a desk review approach, the report identifies entry points where gender-responsive budgeting can:

• Prioritise programmes that address the needs of small-scale women farmers
• Strengthen poverty eradication efforts
• Ensure women farmers are visible in agricultural policies and budgets

From research to action

The findings inform Together Against Poverty – Phase 2 (April 2025), which focuses on breaking down the barriers faced by smallholder women farmers. The initiative has already contributed to improved financial empowerment, increased productivity, and a stronger voice for women in agricultural decision-making.

Through the Ogbonge Women, farmers have engaged both state and federal authorities, successfully advocating for subsidised farming inputs in Lagos State and holding discussions with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture on gender-responsive budgeting, spotlighting Oxfam in Nigeria’s 2024 report.

Looking ahead

Gender-responsive budgeting is essential to building a fairer, more resilient food system. When women farmers are reflected in national budgets, communities are stronger, livelihoods improve, and progress against poverty becomes possible.

More details can be found in the policy brief “Synthesis Report on Gender Responsive Budgeting for Small Scale Women Farmers in the 2024 Budget of the Federal Government.”