FISCAL POLICY AND GENDER INEQUALITY : A CASE OF AGRICULTURE SECTOR IN NIGERIA

Abstract: Over the years governmental efforts to resolve the issues of gender inequality particularly in the developing countries appear to be less significant, and some scholars have identified this failing as the bane of economic growth and development in such countries. It is argued that the consequences which stems from discrimination against women who constitute about 70% of agricultural labor market in Nigeria and their low empowerment in Nigeria's agriculture sector led to the overall low productivity in the country's agriculture sector. Consequently, this current study investigated the nature of gender inequality in the agriculture sector in Nigeria and evaluated the outcomes of fiscal policy measures introduced by government to address gender inequality in the sector. Specifically, the study drew a case evidence lesson from a sample of fifty female agriculture business owners and workers in Ogun State, Nigeria who responded to a semi-structured questionnaire on the characteristics of gender inequality they faced in the agriculture sector as well as their awareness and assessment of the outcomes of the various fiscal policies/programmes government has introduced to address gender issues in the agriculture sector. Three theories were reviewed to provide some theoretical background for the investigation, namely Gender budgeting theory, Keynesian theory of fiscal policy and Gender structure theory. Data retrieved from the sampled respondents were analyzed using both qualitative and quantitative methods, which included charts, percentage, and emerging themes from the structured interviews. The findings of the study reveals that the Nigerian agriculture sector, particularly with reference to the population studied, was characterized by low-income female farmers who specialized in crop production, with little or no access to finance and credit, basic agricultural inputs, farmland and agricultural training and extension services. It was also found that the overall outcomes of fiscal policies and measures to achieve gender equality and empower women in the Nigerian agriculture sector have been insignificant as female farmers in the population sampled hardly benefited from these government initiatives and programmes. They were challenged by the inability to access facilities such as land, quality seeds, and mechanized farming equipment.  For instance, the result of this study showed that 66% of the female farmers surveyed for this study sought alternative source of income in addition to the earnings from their agriculture business, suggesting low productivity in the sector. Based on its findings, it was suggested that special agriculture intervention programmes strictly for female farmers like Better Life for Rural Women (BLRW) be introduced by government at all levels in Nigeria to eradicate gender inequality in the country's agriculture sector and hence boosting its agriculture productivity and economic growth.