Rural Women’s Bargaining over Land Ownership: Evidence from Arable Crop Farming Households in Southwest, Nigeria

Abstract

Studies have shown that women’s stronger rights to productive assets, particularly land, are linked to household overall welfare due to increased female intra-household bargaining power. Through in-depth interviews with 282 rural women in Ogun State, Nigeria, this study examines women’s involvement in land-related decision-making in their households as well as its socioeconomic determinants. This study models the empirical relationship between women’s land-related bargaining power over land. Women’s land-related bargaining power was estimated with principal component analysis (PCA), and Tobit regression model was used for its determinants. It was found that the women’s mean age was 44 years. On average, the household size was six persons. Women have low bargaining power regarding household land-related decision-making, particularly bequeathing land. Farm households’ land endowment shows that married monogamous households hold an average of 2.64 hectares, cohabiting monogamous households hold 1.82 hectares, and polygamous households hold an average of 4.01 hectares. Women in polygamous household types have lower (19 per cent) access to households’ land through marriage compared to their monogamous counterparts with 61 per cent and 44 per cent for both married and cohabiting monogamous households. 78 per cent of the women have low land-related bargaining power. A mean score of 0.19 was estimated for women’s land-related bargaining power. Women’s land-related bargaining power is influenced by their marital status among other factors; the reverse is the case of their husbands, regardless of whether they are monogamous or polygamous.