Decomposing intra household gender differentials in resource allocation in Nigerian agricultural households

Purpose This paper decomposes intra-household gender differentials in resource allocation in Nigerian agricultural households. Gender differences in agricultural households affect livelihood resources and productivity in Nigeria as in many countries. Design/methodology/approach Intersection of sex and age define gender as young male, young female, adult male and adult female within each household. Status of resource allocation was examined across the gendered groups. With the use of Oaxaca-Blinder, the mean outcome of resource allocation across the four gender groups was decomposed into components parts. Findings Resource allocation was generally low among farming actors, with young males, adult and young females situating below the household average. Equal endowment with adult males would have increased resources for young males, as well as young and adult females, respectively by up to 0.21, 0.07 and 0.01. The returns effects were largely significant for young and adult females. Practical implications The findings provide the premise to increase opportunities for female agricultural actors to access resources for their livelihood activities. Policies reducing the inequality between males and females in the Nigerian agricultural systems in terms of access to resources are recommended. Social implications This study fits into the implementation of global goals to enhance gender equality and sustainable outcomes through inclusive access to productive resources in the Nigerian agrifood system. Originality/value This study operationalized gender as the intersectionality of sex and age; obtained in many African settings. This helped to capture differences in roles, opportunities and constraints within agricultural livelihoods. Peer review The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-04-2024-0322