GENDER ANALYSIS OF LABOUR CONTRIBUTION AND DECISION-MAKING ROLES AMONG MAIZE FARMING HOUSEHOLDS IN AGRICULTURAL ZONE C OF KOGI STATE, NIGERIA

This study analysed the gender labour contribution and decision-making role among maize farming households in Agricultural Zone C of Kogi State, Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 160 households from which the males and females were interviewed. Data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics and decision-making index. The mean age of male respondents was 40 years while that of female respondents was 33 years. Average income of male farmers was ₦147,321.9 while that of female farmers was ₦143,475.0. The average household size of the respondents was 8 persons. The mean years of experience of male respondents was 16 years while that of the females was 10 years. It was observed that majority (95.9%) of the households depends on inherited land. Male respondents were more dominant in tertiary education than female respondents. Furthermore, men provided a clear majority of the labour force utilized in maize farming, providing an average of 73.8% labour across all farming operations. The average decision making index (DMI) over all activities was 0.5. This implies that male, on the overall, dominated in terms of decision-making. The results on constraints revealed that poor access to farm inputs was 91.3% for male, while that of female was 96.3, poor transport systems was 88.1% for both male and female, lack of storage/processing facilities was 86.3% for both male and female and poor access to credit was 95.0% while the female was 97.5% .It can be concluded that male gender in the household dominated the female gender in terms of labour contribution and decision making role in the study area. It was recommended that the female gender should be more involved in household decision-making as their insights and perspectives can lead to higher productivity by involving them in maize farming practices. Most constraints identified bother around institutional and infrastructural inadequacies in Nigeria‟s rurality therefore there should be provision of better extension service, access to credit facilities and motorable roads in rural areas in study Area