Socio-Economic and Spatial Assessment of Rural Women Farmers' Access to Agricultural Resources in Tudun Wada Local Government Area, Kano State, Nigeria
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47514/kjg.2026.08.01.068Keywords:
Rural women, Accessibility, Agricultural Resources, Proximity AnalysisAbstract
Rural women constitute the backbone of smallholder agriculture in northern Nigeria, yet the spatial dimension of their access to agricultural resources remains poorly documented. This study assessed the socio-economic profile of rural women farmers and applied Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques to evaluate spatial disparities in resource accessibility in Tudun Wada Local Government Area (LGA), Kano State. A stratified random sample of 317 registered women farmers was drawn from the eleven wards of the LGA using the Yamane (1967) formula; 298 farmers responded to the questionnaire, and data were collected through structured questionnaires. GIS proximity analysis and choropleth mapping were used to examine the spatial distribution of farmers and their distance to key facilities. Results show that most respondents were smallholders (54.7% cultivated less than one hectare), had non-formal education (48.65%), and earned annual incomes well below the FAO minimum benchmark for smallholders. Land was mainly acquired through inheritance (45.64%), while access to credit (5.70% from banks) and farm machinery (34.23%) was severely limited. Proximity analysis revealed that distance from the LGA headquarters to bank facilities ranged from 5.37 km (Jan-Dutse) to 45.5 km (Burum-Burum), with remoteness correlating with lower registration and resource uptake. The study demonstrates the value of integrating GIS with socio-economic survey data in diagnosing rural gender inequities and recommends spatially targeted interventions to close accessibility gaps.
References
Adebayo, J. A., & Worth, S. H. (2023). Profile of women in African agriculture and access to extension services. Social Sciences and Humanities Open, 9, 100790. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssaho.2023.100790
Amenyah, I., & Puplampu, K. (2013). Women in agriculture: An assessment of the current state of affairs in Africa (pp. 1-45). The African Capacity Building Foundation.
Chayal, K., Dhaka, B. L., & Suwalka, R. L. (2010). Analysis of the role performed by women in agriculture: A case study of Bundi District of Rajasthan. Humanity and Social Science Journal, 5(1), 68-72.
Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO). (2019). Digital technology in agriculture and rural areas: Status report. https://www.fao.org/3/ca4985en
Gilbert, T. (2006). Mixed methods and mixed methodologies: The practical, the technical and the political. Journal of Research in Nursing, 11(3), 205-217.
Kumar, R., Karaliya, B., & Chaudhary, A. (2017). Role of GIS in precision agriculture. International Journal of Advanced Research in Computer and Communication Engineering, 6(5), 400-403.
Mahmoud, R. A. S., & Daoud, S. A. (2023). Challenges and constraints limited the contributions of female farmers to household food security: A study of female farmers in Northern Kordofan. OALib, 11(6), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.4236/oalib.1106202
MapCarta. (2023). Tudun Wada map - Kano State, Nigeria. https://mapcarta.com/29613130
Mukaila, R., Falola, A., & Akanbi, S.-U. O. (2021). Socioeconomic determinants of income among rural women in Enugu State, Nigeria: Implications for achieving first Sustainable Development Goal. Journal of Agribusiness and Rural Development, 59(1), 363-370. https://doi.org/10.17306/j.jard.2021.01450
Odoemelam, L. E., Osahon, E., & Nechedo, E. (2013). Effect of tenure security on livelihood activities of women farmers in Anambra State, Nigeria. Journal of Agriculture and Social Research, 13(2), 94-100.
Tashayo, B., Honarbakhsh, M., Akbari, M., & Eftekhari, M. (2020). GIS applications in agriculture and everyday life. Geospatial Health, 15(1), 202-210. https://doi.org/10.4081/gh.2020.882
Tudun Wada LGA Administrative Records. (2023). Electoral ward and boundary information for Tudun Wada Local Government Area, Kano State. Kano State Local Government Service Commission (Unpublished document).
Umunakwe, P. C., Asiabaka, C. C., Nnadi, F. N., Ibe, M. A., & Okonya-Chukwu, C. R. (2017). Constraints to participation in Women-in-Agriculture programme in Aboh Mbaise Local Government Area of Imo State, Nigeria. International Journal of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development Studies, 4(1), 45-52.
Usman, A. A., Bala, J. B., Umar, A., & Aliyu, R. (2022). Spatial analysis of major markets in Kano metropolis. 15th Annual Conference of the College of Environmental Sciences (CES), Barnawa.
World Bank. (2022). Closing gaps, increasing opportunities: A diagnostic on women's economic empowerment in Nigeria. https://hdl.handle.net/10986/37225
Yamane, Y. (1967). Statistics: An introductory analysis (2nd ed.). Harper and Row.
Zahoor, A., Fakher, A., Ali, S., & Sarwar, F. (2013). Participation of rural women in crop and livestock activities: A case study of Tehsil Tounsa Sharif of Southern Punjab (Pakistan). International Journal of Advanced Research in Management and Social Sciences, 2(4).
Downloads
Published
Data Availability Statement
The data are available, and if should the need arise, then contact the corresponding author.
Issue
Section
Categories
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Sanusi Aliyu Garba, Yusuf Saleh, Abdulkadir Yahya Muhammed, Abubakar Aminu Usman (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
