Source: Gender Across Borders
In most parts of sub Saharan Africa, the role of women in food and nutrition security cannot be overemphasized. Women are the producers of food in their communities. Women are also the people who prepare food for their families.

Yet women in many African countries do not have access to and control over land, and this limits the types of food crops they can grow as well as their economic security.

 

Women’s access to land in Nigeria is especially limited in the Southeast and South where cultural norms and traditions forbid a woman to own land. In spite of the increased awareness about gender equality issues in the past three decades, these cultural dictates have been largely unchallenged at the local level where it matters most. More advocacy and knowledge on gender equality is needed to change the status of women in local communities many of whom are suffering needlessly as a result of ignorance and discrimination.

The organization where I work visited Ugbodu community in the Delta State to do just that, raise awareness and inform the community about women’s rights, in late 2010. We were warmly received by Ayo Isinyemeze, The Oloza (King) of Ugbodu Community. In the course of this visit, the Oloza confirmed that he is an advocate for women and has taken steps to protect the rights of women and girls in his community. He explained that women sustain the economy of his community and should be encouraged in any way possible, through education, provision of quality healthcare and an enabling policy environment. The Oloza argued that men did not stay longer than women in the womb and that therefore they have equal rights.

He then narrated an experience where a case was brought before him for hearing, the case involved the daughters of a man in the village who had recently died and left them his land. Their father’s brother however, took the land from the women saying that they had no right to the land. The women thereafter petitioned the Oloza to intervene.

To the delight of all the women in the community the Oloza ruled that the land be returned to the women permanently. He also proclaimed that thereafter, women in Ugbodu would be allowed to inherit land and property. The Oloza explained that there was nothing in the laws of Nigeria that prevented a woman from inheriting land and advised anyone who was not satisfied with his decision, to seek recourse in the courts. His decision however has remained unchallenged to date.

The fact remains that without such positive steps, at the local level, in our communities and families, the fight for equal rights for men and women will be a farce. This is because it challenges age-old customs and traditions that are ingrained in our social norms and values. Cultural practices that deny a woman her rights should be abolished and inheritance rights for women should be reinstated. Efforts to achieve this should be targeted at community rulers who are the custodians of these norms to showcase the benefits of empowering women and encourage them to take positive action to end gender based discrimination

• Nigeria