Gender Division of Labour and Decision Making Power: Implications for Household Food Security in Abia State, Nigeria

Food insecurity which is the cause of child malnutrition is still prevalent in rural communities of Abia State. one of the causes of food insecurity as it has been reported by other is gender inequality. Women, especially in Nigeria have been reported to have high work head in food production compared to men and in decision making power they have often subordinate to men. The aim of this study was to determine gender division of labour in agriculture and decision making power and their impacts on household food security. The study area was Abia State, which is made up of three agricultural zones namely Aba, Umuahia and Ohafia with 17 Local Government Areas. Multi-stage sampling procedure was used in the selection of sample size of 150 respondents of household heads. Data were collected through Focus Group Discussion and use of structured questionnaires. The father and mother were interviewed separately. Data collected were analyzed with the use of simple descriptive statistics like frequency and means. Results of the study indicated both men and women participated in agricultural activities but women more days in the field than men. Women had a median of 53 days (0 – 196), while men had a median of 39 (0 – 164) days. Food insecurity prevalence was high. The result indicated that about 53% of the households were food sufficient while 47% were food insufficient in the last 12 months. In decision making, most decisions were made by father and mother together or father alone. Women make seldom decision alone knowing who does work is essential in policy planning. Women were observed to be responsible for a particular aspect of producing food for household consumptive than men. Therefore food policy needs to be specifically targeted to them and empower them.