Don seeks greater women inclusion in rice value chain
By Temitope Omoniyi
A University of Ilorin don, Prof. Ali Arazeem Abdullahi, has canvassed for stronger inclusion of women in the country’s rice value chain in order to strengthen productivity and food security.
Prof. Abdullahi, who is a former Head of the Department of Criminology, stated this while speaking at a validation workshop held last Wednesday (March 25, 2026) in Ilorin for the TETFund-backed projects titled “State Interventions and Gender Dynamics in the Rice Value Chain in Nigeria,”
He noted that findings revealed that the rice value chain is largely organised along gender lines, with men predominantly involved in rice farming and large-scale processing in most of the communities studied.
“The results further indicated that female rice farmers and processors faced specific barriers in accessing government-supported interventions in the rice value chain,” he said.
The mixed-methods study, carried out in Taraba, Kebbi, Kwara, Ebonyi, Akwa Ibom and Ekiti, traced those gaps to entrenched norms around hegemonic masculinity.
Prof. Abdullahi recommended the creation of female-only Rice Farmers Association “or Women’s Wings within existing ones and easing the requirements for small and medium-scale female producers and processors”.
He said that this would increase women’s participation in government-supported programmes.
Prof. Abdullahi equally added that relaxing requirements for small and medium-scale female rice farmers and processors would further enhance their involvement and improve agricultural productivity and food security.
He noted that beyond being a major carbohydrate source consumed by both low- and high-income households, the rice value chain supports millions of jobs in production, milling and marketing.
According to him, the research explored the structure of the rice value chain and gender dynamics using convergent parallel mixed methods.
Co-researchers on the project include Dr Sheu Usman O. Akanbi, Dr Abayomi Olaseni and Dr Abayomi Quadri Kolapo.
The workshop, held at the Agricultural Development Programme ADP Conference Hall, Ilorin, drew rice farmers’ representatives from across Kwara State, the State’s ADP Managing Director, senior government officials, FADAMA Coordinator, I.T. Busari, the Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ilorin, Prof. A.Y. Muhammed; the Acting Head of the Department of Sociology, Dr Salihu Abdulbaqi; the Treasurer of the Academic Staff Union of Universities(ASUU), University of Ilorin Branch, Dr. Abdullateef Raji, and other stakeholders.
