What Are the Implications of the Covid-19 Situation Now and in the Future on Rural Women in Agriculture in Nigeria

The outbreak of Corona Virus Pandemic in Wuhan City in China and its eventual spread to other nations of the world including Nigeria has crippled the world economy including that of Nigeria which relied mainly on primary products. The unfortunate aspect of the pandemic is the fact that the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) has now diverted its scarce resources from the sector that served as the main stay of the economy to the health sector in an attempt to save life. The implication of this is the neglect of agricultural production at a very crucial period when pre and planting operations should be on-going. The consequential effect of this is shortage of essential food items in the market with rural women bearing the brunt. Currently in the country, price of essential staple food items has gone up astronomically as a result of the pandemic. In order to mitigate the effect of this pandemic, the paper suggests that rural women engaged in agriculture should be given access to micro loans via provision of financial and technical support to grassroots farmers/groups while new innovations and techniques such as farm mechanization, use of mini-planters, harvesters and other time-labour-saving equipment should be encouraged to serve as substitute to scarcity of farm labour. Keywords: COVID-19, Implications, Rural Women, Agricultural Products and Technology DOI: 10.7176/JESD/11-10-18 Publication date:May 31st 2020