The Effects of Gender Differentials in Determining Access to Credit and Profitability among Dry Season Farmers in Ogun State, Nigeria

The study investigated the gender dimensions of access to credit and profitability among dry season farmers in Ogun State, Nigeria. Lack of finance was identified as one of the major problems facing rural farming households in Nigeria. This impedes their productivity and negatively affects their overall standard of living. The study was conducted at Odogbolu Local Government, Ogun State, Nigeria. A multistage sampling technique was employed to select 200 respondents. The first stage was the purposive selection of a local government and the second was the random selection of two communities from the local government. The results from the study indicate that 54% of the farmers (of which 38% are male farmers) have access to credit, but only 14.81% obtained credit from formal sources. The results also showed that there is a disparity between the incomes earned by male and female farmers. While farm size was identified to have a significant effect on profitability for both male and female farmers, access to credit was not significant and could be as a result of misappropriation of funds, lack of technical expertise, market inefficiencies, as well as inconsistent government policies. This study, therefore, recommends that the interest rates given to farmers should be reduced so as to encourage investment, and that government efforts and schemes should consider the inclusion of women so that the gender gap in the productivity and income can be greatly reduced.