This paper uses data from the General Household Survey
Panel 2010/11 to analyze differences in agricultural
productivity across male and female plot managers
in Nigeria. The analysis utilizes the Oaxaca-Blinder
decomposition method, which allows for decomposing
the unconditional gender gap into (i) the portion caused
by observable differences in the factors of production
(endowment effect) and (ii) the unexplained portion
caused by differences in returns to the same observed
factors of production (structural effect). The analysis is
conducted separately for the North and South regions,
excluding the west of the country. The findings show
that in the North, women produce 28 percent less than
men after controlling for observed factors of production, while there are no significant gender differences in the
South. In the decomposition results, the structural
effect in the North is larger than the endowment at the
mean. Although women in the North have access to
less productive resources than men, the results indicate
that even if given the same level of inputs, significant
differences still emerge. However for the South, the
decomposition results show that the endowment effect
is more important than the structural effect. Access to
resources explains most of the gender gap in the South
and if women are given the same level of inputs as men,
the gap will be minimal. The difference in the results for
the North and South suggests that policy should vary by
region.