Abstract
Within the context of globalization, policies anchored on liberalization, privatization and deregulation are seen as credible paths to development. Proponents of globalization argue that a free market regime will help the rural economy to grow, will improve the bargaining position of women and will eventually transform gender relations in a positive way. This position ignores the fact that market-based policies are implemented within distinctive cultural milieus. The chapter examines how cultural practices shape the outcomes of privatization of land as it concerns women, using a case study of rural communities of Delta and Kano states, Nigeria. Based on evidence emerging from the study, the chapter highlights how cultural practices were major determinants of the level of success of land privatization in these communities.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
John Oyeleye, “Settlement Geography,” 2001 cited in Abel Abotutu, “Rural Settlement types in Delta State ”. In Delta State in Maps. eds. Odemerho, Awaritefe, Atubi Augustine, Ugbomeh and Efe (Asaba: Proverbsplus International, 2007), 144.
- 2.
Gender in Nigeria Report, Improving the Lives of Girls and Women in Nigeria: Issues, Policies and Action. (2nd Edition UKAID, British Council Nigeria, 2012), iv, 9.
- 3.
Centre for Agricultural and Rural Co-operation (CTA), The Economic Role of Women in Agricultural and Rural Development: Promoting Income Generating Activities. (London: Ebenezer Baylis & Son Ltd., 1999), 23.
- 4.
See for example, Julia Berhman, Ruth Meinzien-Dick, and Agnes Quisumbing, “The Gender Implications of Large Scale Land Deals,” Journal of Peasant Studies 2012. 39(1): 49–79; and Fiona Tsikata Dzodzi and Pamela Golah, eds., Land Tenure, Gender and Globalisation: research analysis from Africa, Asia and Latin America, (New Delhi: Raj Press, 2010).
- 5.
See, for example, some empirical studies, including: T. Kachika, Land Grabbing in Africa: A Review of the Impact of Possible Policy Responses. Retrieved from www.oxfamblogs.org/eastafrica/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Landgrabbinginafrica-kachika.pdf. on 05/03/2013; Omokoniovo Harriet Efanodor, “Liberalisation of Oil Exploration: Land Grab and the Travail of Women in Rural Communities of Delta State , Nigeria” In Oil Theft, Environmental Degradation and the Reciprocal Responsibilities of Host Communities and the Government in Nigeria: A Book of Readings ed. Christian Ewhrudjakpor, Augustine Atubi and Etemike (Abraka, Delta State: Grace Communication International, 2015), 57–67; Patience Mutopo, “Women’s Struggles to Access and Control Land and Livelihoods after Fast Track Land Reform in Mwensi District, Zimbabwe,” Journal of Peasant Studies, 38 no.5 (2011), 1021–104; Esekumemu Victor Clark and Omokiniovo Harriet Efanodor, “Land Grab as Developmental Strategy: Privatisation of Land and Women in Rural Communities of Kwara State, Nigeria”. Journal of Social and Management Science, 10 no. 1 (2015), 138–149.
- 6.
Delta State Government , Fact File of Delta 2012. Retrieved on 12/03/2015 from www.deltastate.com.ng/delta/fact/file.html
- 7.
Ben Okpervra, “Historical development of Delta State : Precolonial and Colonial,” in Delta State in Maps, eds. Awaritefe Odemerho, Ugbomeh Atubi and Efe (Delta state: Proverb Plus International, 2007), 60.
- 8.
Lowenberg-DeBoer and Germaine, A Study of the Cowpea Value Chain in Kano State, Nigeria, from Pro poor and gender perspective. (Nigeria: USAID, 2008), 9.
- 9.
Regina Scheyvens, ed., Development Fieldwork: A Practical Guide (London: SAGE, 2003).
- 10.
Shulamit Reinharz, Feminist Methods in Social Science Research (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992), 19.
- 11.
M. Boesveld, Towards Autonomy for Women: Research and Action to Support a Development Process (Hague: RAWOO, 1986), 20.
- 12.
National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS) Policy Document. Abuja, (Nigeria: National Planning Commission, 2004); Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and Osafo-Kwaako, Nigeria’s Economic Reforms: Progress and Challenges 2007 p. 7, retrieved from www.ancien/inter-resource.org/IMG/pdf-Nigeria-Economic-Reform-Okonjo-2007 on 7/1/13.
- 13.
NEEDS, Policy Document, 70.
- 14.
Liberalization of land tenure system has to do with the making of land tenure system market-oriented, with harmonized system of regulated access to right to use, control and transfer land. See, Shahra Razavi, “Liberalisation and the Debates on Women’s Access to Land,” Third World Quarterly, 28 no 8 (2007):1486.
- 15.
Laz Etemike and Omokiniovo Harriet Efanodor, “Contemporary Globalisation and the Rural Economy in Nigeria,” America International Journal of Social Science, 4 Nos 3 (2015):14–27; Center for Promoting Ideas , U.S.A. www.aijssnet.com Index in DRJI (Directory of Research Journal Indexing).
- 16.
CTA, The Economic Role of Women in Agricultural and Rural Development, 23.
- 17.
Bioje Tajudeen Aluko and Abdul-Rasheed Amidu, “Women and Land Rights in Nigeria” (A paper presented at 5th FIG Regional Conference Accra, Ghana March 2006), 3.
- 18.
Dieyi Dan Olisa. The Realities and Values of Anioma Identity (Lagos: Danfejim International Com, 2001).
- 19.
CTA, Economic Role of Women in Agricultural and Rural Development, 26.
- 20.
Lowenberg-DeBoer and Germaine, A Study of the Cowpea Value Chain in Kano State, 9.
- 21.
Aluko and Amidu, “Women and Land Rights in Nigeria,” 13.
- 22.
Nnadi Chikairu and Ihenacho Egwuonwu, “Mobilising Women for Food Security, Poverty Reduction and Rural Development in Nigeria: The Role of Land Tenure Rights,” Greener Journal of Agricultural Science 2no.3 (2012), 98–101. Retrieved on 61/8/2013 from www.gjournal.org/GIA/GIA%20PDF/2012/June/Nnadi.pdf
- 23.
Aluko and Amidu, “Women and Land Rights in Nigeria,” 14.
- 24.
Harriet Efanodor, “Large Scale Land Deals and Women in Rural Communities in Nigeria: Paradox of a Developmental Paradigm,” Research in Social Change, 8 no.11 (2016), 33.
- 25.
CTA, Economic Role of Women in Agricultural and Rural Development.
- 26.
Harriet Efanodor, “Liberalisation of Oil Exploration”, 58.
- 27.
Report of the South-South Commission, The challenges to the South (Enugu: Fourth Dimension, 1996).
Acknowledgements
This chapter is part of my research thesis titled “Impact of Contemporary Globalisation Policies on Women in Rural Communities of Delta, Kano and Kwara States, Nigeria.” Its publication was made possible by support from the Social Science Research Council’s Next Generation of Social Sciences in Africa Fellowship, with a fund provided by Carnegie Corporation of New York. I also acknowledge my supervisors, Dr. E.V. Clark and Prof. Etemike Laz. I am grateful to all who responded to the interviews and participated in the focus group discussions, research key informants, research assistants and the various scholars whose work were most useful for the study.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Efanodor, H.O. (2018). Developmental Strategies and Cultural Dynamics in Rural Nigeria. In: Falola, T., Kalu, K. (eds) Africa and Globalization. African Histories and Modernities. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74905-1_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74905-1_8
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-74904-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-74905-1
eBook Packages: HistoryHistory (R0)