By Ibukun EMIOLA

ACROSS Oyo State, smallholder women farmers long recognised as the backbone of rural food production are waging a quiet but debilitating battle to access and retain farmland.

Findings by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) indicate that yearly, land leasing, prohibitive land prices, cultural barriers, and rising insecurity are undermining women-led agriculture, threatening food production in a state considered one of Nigeria’s major food baskets.

Every planting season, Oluremi Oyetunji, a smallholder farmer in Apaadi, Oluyole Local Government Area, prays for two things: the rains and leniency from her landlord.

Her fear is simple, losing the land before harvest.

“I leased the land I am using for about ₦20,000 to ₦30,000. When I tried to buy land, it was about ₦90,000 back then in 2006. Now, it is around ₦1.2 million near Ayegun, and I can not afford that,” she said.

Like other women farmers interviewed across rural Oyo communities, Oyetunji’s dependence on short-term land leases leaves her unable to plan for the future or expand production.

For Motunrayo Olusola, a young mother of five, who began farming five years ago, the uncertainty has cost her dearly.

“I lost a huge amount of money because the sons of the landowner where I leased  asked me to leave the land untimely. I had wanted to sell the maize after it dried to increase the income, but I sold the maize plantation cheaply due to the threat.

“ If you want to lease land for two to three years, most landowners will not agree; they only want yearly leasing,” she said.

This restrictive practice, common across Oyo State, limits farming productivity and reinforces poverty among smallholder women who already shoulder the bulk of subsistence food cultivation.

Data from the World Bank shows that only eight per cent of Nigerian women own land in their own names—one of the lowest ownership rates in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Most women access farmland through husbands, family networks or short-term lease agreements. These fragile arrangements offer neither legal protection nor room for investment in irrigation, mechanisation or soil improvement.

A 2022 study in the African Journal of Land Policy estimated that Nigerian women operate on an average of just 0.43 hectares, usually leased for a single season.

Such insecurity not only stifles productivity but makes them vulnerable to sudden eviction.

Rashidat Abass, a member of the Smallholder Women Farmers Organisation of Nigeria (SWOFON), Oluyole LGA, recalls mediating a dispute where women were forced out mid-season.

“We appealed to the landowners to allow the women harvest before leaving. The family decided to reallocate the land among themselves even though the women had already cultivated it. We begged for an extension so the crops could mature,” she said.

These stories are common—stretching from Ibadan’s peri-urban villages to Oyo, Iseyin, and Ibarapa.

Beyond cost and insecurity, cultural norms remain a major barrier for women.

“The Baales will not answer you if you go alone; they say they do not sell to women. If you insist, they inflate the price or sell you land belonging to someone else,”  Zainab Irekeola, a farmer from Idi-Iroko, Akinyele LGA, said.

Irekeola recalled how she once lost a plot because the landowner’s son secretly resold it.

To circumvent these barriers, many women now register farms under company names or bring male relatives for authentication. Temilade Olabiyi, SWOFON women leader in Oluyole LGA, said: “Oftentimes, community leaders or families will only sell to men or companies.

“A woman can easily be defrauded; all the land I use for farming is acquired with my company’s name, with my husband and a lawyer present,” she said.

Her remark reflects findings from a 2024 study in the Journal of Environmental Law & Policy, which noted that women’s access to land in Nigeria often depends on their relationships with husbands or male relatives.

Even when women are willing to buy, soaring land prices put land ownership out of reach.

“An acre in Akinyele now sells for between N2 million and N2.5 million. The state farm settlements I asked about were already full,” Irekeola said.

Similarly, Olabiyi said farmland at Latunde village jumped from N300,000 per acre in 2020 to between N800,000 and N1 million in 2025.

A Dataphyte analysis corroborates these reports, showing that peri-urban land values around Ibadan have increased fivefold in the last decade due to housing estates, road expansion, and government acquisitions.

The state’s historic farm settlements—established decades ago—are also overcrowded.

The Oyo State Ministry of Agriculture confirmed that seven of them were occupied nearly five decades ago, with men still making up 60–70 per cent of beneficiaries.

Agriculture Commissioner, Olasunkanmi Olaleye, maintained that land is available for all.

“You apply through the department of Crop and Farm Settlements. If land is available, you get it within two weeks to a month,” he said.

He added that land acquisition has never been one of the major challenges of smallholder women farmers, emphasising government support through subsidies, input distribution and access to improved seeds.

Atinuke Akinbade, SWOFON State Coordinator, said only a few had access to farmland.

“When our women apply, they are told settlements are full or unavailable. Their farms are scattered, making it difficult for them to benefit from interventions,” she said.

Lekan Shobowale, a landowner in Ibadan’s suburb, believes insecurity has made landowners reluctant to lease rural farmland to women.

“Most farmlands left are far and dangerous; herders often invade, destroy crops or kidnap farmers. Male farmers are killed; how much more women who are raped or kidnapped.

“Women who venture into farming do not have the resources; land is the most basic necessity, yet most lands have been turned into estates. The remaining land are too far and unsafe,” she said.

Surveyor and land agent, Remi Akanji, also warned that family land disputes, fraud and encroachment heighten women’s vulnerability.

Experts say women’s weak land rights threaten food security and agricultural resilience.

Jaye Yekini, Project Manager at Whitegreen Development Services, said: “Land insecurity affects smallholder farmers, especially in the Southwest. Most women cannot access land unless they introduce a husband or male relative.

“They farm on leased land for short periods, limiting expansion and investment.”

He added that the land tenure system was stacked against women who lack financial power to buy land outright.

“The way forward is for government to lease out land directly to women, group them into cooperatives, and support them with inputs. At harvest, government can deduct its service charges,” Yekini said.

A 2021 study in Agriculture and Food Security supports this approach, concluding that strengthening women’s land rights significantly improves agricultural output and household resilience.

Agricultural enthusiast, Aina Olaosebikan, also said that farmlands continued to disappear to private and public projects.

“I saw bulldozers clearing farmlands while villagers watched helplessly;  that is how food insecurity begins,” he said.

For many women, the solution lies in collective ownership and government-backed allocations.

“We want the government to allocate farmland directly to SWOFON; our members can farm in clusters and benefit from interventions,” Akinbade said.

Farmers interviewed by urged the government to expand farm settlements, increase women’s quota in land allocations, provide irrigation, enhance security, and establish mechanisms to prevent arbitrary eviction.

Unless decisive action is taken, experts warn that Oyo risks losing a major segment of its farming population—particularly women—to land insecurity, rising costs, and deepening gender barriers.

For women like Oyetunji, Irekeola and Abass, farming is not just a source of livelihood; it is a lifelong identity.

This report was made possible with support from the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR) under the Strengthening Public Accountability for Results and Knowledge (SPARK 2.2) project.