Gender Analysis of labour contribution and productivity for popular cropping systems in Kaduna State of Northern Nigeria

The economic role of women in agriculture is surrounded by numerous myths and misunderstandings. Significant changes have occurred in the agricultural sector over the past 25 years, both in the role played by women and in the understanding of this role, but the continued lack of appropriate policy and programme strategies means that women’s contribution to agriculture remains invisible. In order to make the con-tribution visible, distinction between men’s and women’s role needs to be examined and clarified; especially, in terms of labour productivity. Towards this end, a study was conducted with 120 farm households in Kaduna State of northern Nigeria to ex-amine the gender differentials in labour contribution and productivity in the farm sec-tor. Women in the southern part of Kaduna State were observed to exhibit greater la-bour productivity than men; while in the northern part where men contributed labour more extensively for farm works, male labour was more productive.