Features … ‘workers not land owners’: how nigerian women lose wealth from cashew agriculture

With the harvest season for cashews, 42 -year -old Ayashina Idowu wiped dust from her outdated sewing machine to be made Iro And Buba (Wrapping and blouses made locally) and repair outdated clothes for neighbors.

He dragged the engine, his familiar weight pressing his palm, returning to a small house that multiplied as his shop. It took eight months before he returned to work for days as a laborer in a large cashew farm in Iloffa, a small town that functions as the headquarters of the okay-oke regional region in the state of Kwara.

But for Idowu, having agriculture to harvest cashews will be better than choosing agricultural owners who pay very little. His father died, not leaving the property landed on his name, and his brothers kicked him out of their father’s land. This action, which is rooted in the patriarchal system, prevents many women from becoming stakeholders in a profitable cashew business in Nigeria.

“I chose cashews for agricultural owners,” Idowu said, pointing at the remaining dried cashews on the tree when we toured on a farm.

Over the past decade, cashew agriculture has evolved into a million dollar agricultural company in Nigeria. This has captivated many Nigerian farmers to enjoy what has been used, especially as a shady place to sit down and, in the season, as a fruit for consumption.

Globally, Nigeria is the fourth largest fourth largest raw cashew bean production More than 300,000 metric tons of cashew.

Foluke Olatoye, an agricultural economist at the Center for Environmental and Economic Resources in the State of Ogun, explained that Mete had metamorphosed into a cash crop in the 1990s, producing rural wealth, contributing to work income and foreign exchange for farmers in the value chain.

“Mete has a high export value and strong resistance to climate change. With low maintenance, it develops in the season.”

A product buyer, who introduces himself as the Constitutional Court, who operates in Ogbomoso, admitted that there are many opportunities in the cashew value chain but lamenting the fact that women lose because they do not have the opportunity to have agriculture to be involved in the most profitable business hierarchy.

According to the research center and development project, women form about 70 percent of the workforce in the cashew processing sector, but they produce less than men because of the challenges of land ownership

and other obstacles. Apart from their substantial contribution, culture, religion, and financial constraints continue to limit their ability to own land. This lack of access not only affects their income but also leaves them with a little or without decision making power.

In the cashew industry, women are mainly small farmers, mostly involved in agricultural workers and local processing.

At present there is no national policy regarding cashews that promotes economic opportunities for women in cashew production, processing, marketing, exporting and overcoming challenges and obstacles faced by women in this industry. This limits the potential of women to advance in the value chain and contribute to industrial growth.

The Constitutional Court illustrates how the cashew value chain begins at the lowest point. Farmers work on plants. At Harvest, workers’ services are sought to choose beans, dried, and then packaged by the company. After this process, the company moved raw beans to exporters such as Olam, Agri-Bisnis International, to issue cashew results.

In Asia, Europe and America, where it is processed, it is broken down into two compartments: shells and nuts. From shells, biofuels and oils are produced as well; Beans produce oil, medicines, and eaters that can be eaten among other things. Most of the spoken farmers claimed that they were not aware of countless products made from plants.

“In 2024, we had more than 25,000 metric tons of turnover, and one ton was two million naira. Only Calculate, “said Babatunde Dauda, ​​Chair of the Nigerian Nigeria Mete Association, Kwara Chapter.

“Cashew is our oil in Kwara,” said Dauda, ​​who also mentioned that farmers, who are mostly men, get the largest part of money locally.

“Women usually in the business of taking cashews and receiving daily wages,” he explained, emphasizing how women make the least of the value chain.

Beyond the influence of patriarchy, some women are hindered to obtain property landing due to financial constraints. GBEMISOLA Apanisile, a native of Iloffa, is one of these women.

Over the past ten years, he has been involved in training, producing a little

₦ 3,000 every day. Sometimes farmers pay in the form of goods, giving the pickers like any third of what they have chosen.

According to Apanisile, he knows agricultural procedures but does not have the financial ability to buy agricultural land.

“We travel for hours and choose these nuts one by one; this is very boring,” he said, talking about how difficult the job was. His back hurts because the work involves bending for a long time.

Every season, women like apanisile are often carried in large quantities to work as laborers on cashews in Eleyin, OSI, Kajola, and other rural communities in the state of Kwara.

“The money I earn from labor is not enough to maintain the education of my children,” said the mother of six children. The salary is basically invested in the eating business and selling of his family’s shoes, he said when he switched to a small collection of Crocs and Slippers.

After spending the first four months of this year sinking in the role of this worker, “I made one hundred thousand naira,” he said. This is far less than cashew farmers who sell one ton for two million naira.

The pockets of women remain light in the prosperous industry

Idowu, which produced around ₦ 15,000 per week, described the physical victims carried out by the work. He found some comfort in the fact that the cashew season, although short, offers a rare window to make a living. “Only for about four months a year a person can make money from this job.”

He regretted the lack of support from all stakeholders for women to rise to high power positions and large -scale ownership on cashew farming. “We have seen men to pull out the cashew trees that develop and replant them in their agriculture. This is mainly happening to my friend who is a widow, because he does not have a defender,” Idowu said.

According to the Nigerian Constitution, women are empowered to own property. However, in practice, unwritten cultural norms often override these rights, encouraging women further to margin. As a result, only 10 percent of landowners in Nigeria are women, according to the Ministry of Federal Women’s Affairs.

Experience of helplessness

Bose adegoke, another cashew picker, works for her husband, Adegoke. Before now, Adegoke works in Lagos until now, when he returns to Omi-Aran, his hometown in the state of Kwara. After his arrival, he began the maintenance of the agricultural land he inherited from his father. Like many other people, his father has planted a large number of cashew trees to protect his land and mark the boundaries with other people’s land.

Now, Bose, his wife, serves as laborers in agricultural land.

“I only choose beans and make packaging, Father Wa (My husband) brought a bag and deal with product buyers. So I don’t know how much we produce from the cashew, “he said with a smile not to reach his eyes.” I want to buy my land and plant cashew there, but they will still be controlled by my husband. “

Landing property is mainly owned by family or government; However, descendants of men throughout Nigerian culture usually get land, leaving women for their marriage. “They do this to ensure that the land remains in the family. A woman will marry a man who is her head. This is more beneficial for her husband than father,” said Aknni, a Bikeman and a farmer.

In Kwara, a cultural barrier developed rapidly, paralyzing women from pampering themselves in prosperity and ownership of assets. Without hesitation, this barrier has minimized national agricultural production, and its implications for the empowerment of women are very in -depth, as discussed by this researcher.

Along the road between the Medium Correctional Center OMI-ARAM and ISANLU-ISIN, the cashew trees coat the landscape. “Ninety percent of agriculture here is owned by men, so women and children only do the selection,” said Head of Tayo Ajide, Obanla from Isanlu Isin and a cashew farmer. “Women’s work is not agriculture, but helping labor”

He followed when he tried to find out the next place to plant cashew seeds. Every rainy June, he planted cashews for expanding agriculture.

Because of its eternal nature, cashew farmers must wait four years before enjoying the bumper harvest. Ajide’s head also believes that women are not patient enough to wait for that long. However, the head’s statement was dismissed by many women who were met by reporters at Isin, Okeero, and Irepodun.

It highlights the strength of patriarchal values ​​in the area, where men treat women like children, unable, in their view, caring about building wealth or making long-term investments.

‘The government does not support us’

Although it has around 15,000 registered members spread across 16 LGA, there is no real support for cashew farmers in the state of Kwara. “The government does not support us,” Dauda said. “If the government becomes serious about cashew, it can generate significant income from it. We [in the cashew value chain] know how much we see “

On several occasions, association authorities have regretted the lack of government interest, inhibiting the country from introducing policies, regulating or maintaining accurate records of activities related to cashew.

“Mete is eternal; it takes a long time,” said the special assistant to the Governor of the State of Kwara about the intervention of small farmers, Abdullahi Belle. He noted that the government was more focused on the support of direct ‘gastric infrastructure’ for edible and annual plants.

In telephone conversations, Afes Abolore, agricultural commissioners in Kwara, said there were sustainable efforts to support women and youth in agriculture. However, there are no policies, laws, or programs that are sensitive to gender that promote women’s land ownership in the state.

While some Nigerian organizations help some women have land, their efforts remain a drop at sea.

Olatoye recommends that access to credit, justice in support, and land reform policy is approached with gender sensitivity to make land ownership more accessible to women.

He believes that supporting female farmers in large -scale cashew agriculture can increase agricultural productivity, rural wealth and creation of grassroots.

“Cashew is a valuable non-miny export that can be utilized through women’s inclusion.”

By: Damai Oladipo

This story is supported by the Center for Communication and Social Impact (CCSI)