Gendered livelihoods and the adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices in Nigeria

Abstract

Feminist research maintains that livelihood activities are socially differentiated. While gendered unevenness in livelihood opportunities may condition the agricultural adaptive capacities of male-headed households (MHHs) and female-headed households (FHHs) to climate change, the gendered dimensions of livelihood activities have not been addressed in much of the climate-smart agriculture practices (CSAPs) adoption literature. This paper expands feminist livelihood research by analysing gendered dimensions of livelihood activities and their relation to the adoption and intensity of the use of CSAPs. The analysis draws on a nationally representative Living Standards Measurement Survey - Integrated Surveys on Agriculture (LSMS-ISA) panel dataset from Nigeria. The research findings show that a significantly higher percentage of FHHs (51%) are involved in on-farm activities compared to their MHHs (38%) counterparts (p < 0.01). The results further show that gendered household headship (HH) is significantly associated with the adoption of CSAPs. Moreover, based on a feminist approach to livelihoods, we find that livelihood diversification moderates the relationship between gendered HH and CSAP adoption intensity. This suggests that FHHs with more livelihood opportunities have a greater probability of adopting a greater number of CSAPs than MHHs. The paper concludes with policy recommendations for the promotion of CSAPs and sheds light on how the Nigerian government can formulate gender-sensitive policies to promote the adoption of CSAPs.

Keywords:

• Adoption
• climate-smart agriculture
• gender
• household headship
• livelihood
• Nigeria

Acknowledgments

The authors express their deep gratitude to Ann Oberhauser and Jennifer Langill for their invaluable support and guidance throughout the process of writing and revising this manuscript. We also acknowledge the hard work of the anonymous reviewers and the editor, Kanchana N Ruwanpura, at GPC for providing valuable suggestions and insightful comments to improve the quality of the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 For each dimension of livelihood activity, a household head (HH) was assigned a value of 1 if engaged in such livelihood activity, and 0 otherwise.

2 See Appendix Table 4A for marginal effect of the ordered probit model without interaction term (Supplemental data).

3 We refrain from a detailed discussion of the results of the main effect variables because the focus here is primarily on the interaction effect of gender of the HH and the degree of livelihood diversification.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Chukwudi Charles Olumba

Dr. Chukwudi Charles Olumba is a researcher with a PhD in Agricultural Economics from Ebonyi State University. His research interests include emerging issues in urban agriculture, food security, natural resources management (land and water), and gender equality. He was awarded the Feed the Future Nigeria Agricultural Policy Project scholarship funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which enabled him to undertake his PhD exchange program at Michigan State University, USA. He has designed, implemented and analysed data from field surveys across Africa.

Cynthia Nneka Olumba

Dr. Cynthia Nneka Olumba is a lecturer in the Department of Agricultural Economics at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. She holds a PhD in Agricultural Food Systems and Rural Development from Newcastle University, United Kingdom. Her research focuses on climate change adaptation and mitigation, gender equality, food security, and sustainable land resources management. Her research advances the practical and policy mechanisms that can promote climate resilience, land degradation neutrality, and sustainable development.