Olufemi Popoola

Mapping supply chains, cost structure analysis, and investment priorities for food system transformation under conflict and climate stress in northern Nigeria

Women's household decision-making authority and dietary diversity in Nigeria: Evidence from the 2023/24 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey

Women in Nigeria face severe and persistent nutritional disadvantages rooted in patriarchal household structures that restrict their agency in key decision-making domains. This study examines the association between women’s household decision-making authority and dietary diversity, and tests whether resource ownership and information exposure moderate that association, using the 2023/24 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS). The analytic sample comprises 22,958 currently married women aged 15–49 years with a co-resident spouse. Poisson regression models with survey weights were estimated to assess the relationship between decision-making authority and the minimum dietary diversity for women (MDD-W) score. Moderation was examined through interaction terms between joint decision-making and each of the two moderators, with marginal associations reported at representative values of each moderator. Because the NDHS is cross-sectional, every estimate reported here is an association measured at a single point in time. No coefficient is interpreted as a causal effect. Joint participation in healthcare decisions was associated with a 5.6 percent higher MDD-W score relative to exclusion from decisions (β = 0.056; p < 0.01), and independent healthcare authority with a 4.3 percent higher score (β = 0.043; p < 0.01). Joint participation in large-purchase decisions was associated with a 3.2 percent higher score (β = 0.032; p < 0.01) when modelled alone but was not distinguishable from zero once healthcare authority was included. Interaction terms between joint decision-making and each moderator were negative and significant throughout: the association was largest among women with no assets and no media access, and at the maximum of either index the point estimate was fully offset rather than merely attenuated. Confidence intervals at the maximum of each index include zero in five of the six specifications, so the association is best described as eliminated rather than reversed. Women’s meaningful participation in household decision-making is significantly associated with dietary diversity in Nigeria, with the largest differences observed among the most disadvantaged women. Achieving substantive improvements in women’s nutrition requires policies that simultaneously address gaps in household agency, asset ownership, and access to information.

Gender inequality in livestock ownership, decision-making, and productivity: Evidence from Nigeria

Livestock systems in sub-Saharan Africa are characterized by persistent gender disparities: women contribute substantial labor but have limited ownership and control of productive assets. Using individual-level data from the 2022/23 Nigeria Agricultural Sample Survey, this study examines gender gaps in livestock ownership, income control, and productivity by using the individual livestock manager rather than the household as the unit of analysis. The results reveal that women are 7.1 percentage points less likely to own large ruminants, 5.8 percentage points less likely to own small ruminants, and 1.4 percentage points less likely to own monogastrics, while having a 9.7 percentage-point advantage in poultry ownership. Women are also 19.2 percentage points less likely to control livestock income, even when actively engaged in production, with this gap moderated by household headship rather than education or agricultural training. Enterprises managed by women produce approximately 3.2 fewer liters of milk and 1.8 to 3.2 fewer eggs per week than those managed by men, conditional on herd size and geographical zone. Ownership disparities in large ruminants in Nigeria are more pronounced in the livestock-dense North but narrow or reverse in the South. The persistence of income-control gaps despite differences in human capital suggests that gender inequality in livestock systems is rooted in structural constraints, including inheritance norms and intrahousehold bargaining dynamics. These findings highlight the need for gender-responsive interventions that combine asset transfers and market access with measures to strengthen women’s decision-making authority and monitor economic agency using individual-level indicators.