Derftdan Resources Ltd is passionate about human capital management as we believe that the best resource in any manager’s arsenal is the human capital resource. Consequently, it was observed according to research that about 70 percent of Nigerian smallholder tomato farmers are women. However, in Northern Nigeria, women’s participation in farming operations and specifically tomato production is very limited, primarily due to socio-cultural restrictions that prevent women from fully participating in agriculture. A woman’s role in the agricultural sector is significantly affected by socio-economic factors such as income, education, and access to infrastructure, and some socio-cultural factors such as lack of access to land resources.
All these hinder them from benefiting from various interventions targeted at smallholder farmers in Northern Nigeria. Consequently, women constitute only 12 percent of the total number of smallholder tomato farmers in the country. In order for agriculture to advance in Nigeria, gender-specific policies and services tailored to women in the value chains should be developed. The agricultural sector, particularly the tomato value chain provides various entry points for women as primary producers, processors, input suppliers, commercial buying agents, and market linkage providers. However, women have perennially been marginalized as they lack access to the much-needed agricultural resources and this is something that Derftdan Resource Ltd is poised to tackle and change.