The UN disclosed this on Monday at a press conference in Abuja, to commemorate the International Year of the Woman Farmer 2026, themed, “Empowering Women Farmers: Advancing Inclusive Policies and Investments for Resilient Agrifood Systems.”
The international organisation also said its supported projects in Nigeria had reached more than 100,000 women, with about $47m invested in programmes targeting women, as between 48 and 50 per cent of beneficiaries.
Speaking on behalf of the FAO Representative in Nigeria and ECOWAS, Dr Hussein Gadain, the Senior Programme Officer, Office of Emergency and Resilience, FAO, Jimmy Owani, said women were indispensable to Nigeria’s agrifood systems but continued to operate below their potential because of persistent inequalities.
“Women farmers are indispensable to agri-food systems,” he said, adding that investing in them was “not only a matter of equity, but also a strategic investment in food security, economic growth and sustainable development.”
He called for greater investment in women-led agrifood enterprises, improved access to land and finance, better technologies and extension services, enhanced market opportunities and increased participation in agricultural governance.
The UN Women Country Representative to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Ms Beatrice Eyong, said women’s contribution was undermined by structural barriers, including limited access to land, knowledge, extension services, technology, finance and markets.
“Though they form 70 per cent of those who provide labour, they have structural constraints, obstacles that make them not to perform the way they should have performed,” she said.
Eyong warned that climate change could worsen the situation, as men were more likely to secure fertile land when agricultural resources became scarce.
“When there is no fertile land, the men are going to get the fertile lands and push women and shift women very, very far,” she said, adding that this increased women’s workload.
She further said agricultural interventions must account for women’s unpaid domestic responsibilities.
“Each time you add anything in the village or in the community for women, you have added more work,” she said, noting that many women combined farming with fetching water and firewood, preparing food and caring for their families.
The UN said low-cost biodigesters and related clean-energy equipment had been provided to more than 780 rural women households across six states, helping some save up to 12 hours weekly previously spent gathering firewood.
It added that digitally assisted climate-smart agriculture programmes were providing women with weather, market and input information, while helping financial institutions assess their credit history and enabling extension officers to monitor farms remotely.
Speaking on behalf of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the Country Director for Nigeria, Ms Dede Ekoue, said the UN-supported programmes had constructed or rehabilitated more than 221 market, processing and storage facilities in 2025 and provided over 4,500 smart-technology and clean-energy equipment, including mobile phones, solar-powered water pumps, power tillers and cassava peel conversion machines.
She said more than 87,888 women belonged to supported rural producer organisations, while 82 women state apex leaders in 16 states had received leadership training.
Five women cooperatives had also received the African Organisation for Standardisation Dual Quality Mark Certification, which the UN said could improve consumer confidence, competitiveness and access to regional markets under the African Continental Free Trade Area.
On land and climate resilience, the UN said 21,015 hectares had been rehabilitated and placed under climate-resilient practices, while about 6,500 hectares had been facilitated for women and youths. It added that interventions had protected 203 small-scale farmers from seasonal flooding.
The UN further disclosed that approximately N465m in savings had been mobilised among 21,498 active savers, while 23,624 participants had received training in Information and Communication Technologies for Development to improve access to agricultural information and markets.
The officials said the interventions were intended not merely to increase women’s participation in agriculture but to enable them to own and control productive assets, access finance and technology, reduce unpaid labour, build profitable enterprises and participate in decision-making.
The UN urged the Federal and state governments to strengthen gender-responsive agricultural policies and expand women’s access to land, finance, infrastructure, technology, climate services and leadership opportunities. It also called on financial institutions and the private sector to treat women farmers as customers, suppliers, entrepreneurs and investment partners.
“Women farmers are not merely beneficiaries of agricultural development. They are economic actors, entrepreneurs, innovators and leaders,” the UN said. “When women farmers thrive, Nigeria’s food systems thrive.”
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