Navigating Gender-Based Violence impacts on women farmers’ livelihoods and mitigation strategies in selected South eastern states in Nigeria

A comparative study conducted in Nigerian South-eastern states, Enugu and Anambra, delved into the far-reaching consequences of gender-based violence (GBV) on women farmers and their agricultural livelihoods. In the Enugu State study, 90% of the surveyed women were found to be aware of GBV, and they reported alarming incidents of physical, sexual, and verbal abuse. This violence hindered their economic empowerment and led to profound psychological distress, including fear, anxiety, low self-esteem, and trust issues. These emotional hardships resulted in reduced income and hindered agricultural productivity, potentially driving victims to consider rural-urban migration. To counter the detrimental effects of GBV, the study recommended a multifaceted approach. Key strategies included raising awareness about GBV, providing women with skills training and capacity-building programs, and ensuring access to support systems. Enforcing policies, addressing the root causes of GBV, and fostering collaboration and partnerships were also seen as effective means to tackle this pervasive issue. The Anambra State study revealed that GBV inflicted emotional distress on women farmers, causing fear, anxiety, low self-esteem, and trust issues. On the agricultural front, GBV resulted in reduced crop yields, physical and emotional exhaustion, diminished livestock production, and lower income. To mitigate these impacts, the study proposed creating GBV awareness, offering skill acquisition programs, challenging cultural norms that perpetuate GBV, and enhancing access to support systems. Both studies highlighted the importance of empowering women economically, socially, and politically to reduce their vulnerability to GBV. This involves promoting women's participation in decision-making processes, offering opportunities for skill development, and providing accessible support systems, including counselling and legal services. Additionally, governments were encouraged to establish mechanisms for reporting


INTRODUCTION
Gender-based violence (GBV) is a global issue that inflicts severe physical, psychological, and socio-economic consequences, disproportionately impacting women, particularly in the agricultural sector.Women represent a substantial portion of the world's agricultural labour force, making significant contributions to global food security.However, women farmers frequently grapple with challenges like limited access to resources, credit, and markets, which hinder their economic empowerment and livelihoods.GBV exacerbates these challenges, diminishing women's involvement in the labour force, reducing their earnings, and constraining their access to vital resources, such as credit and land.The adverse effects of GBV extend beyond the emotional and psychological realm, significantly affecting agricultural productivity and contributing to food insecurity.
In addition, GBV can undermine women's decision-making power, mobility, and access to resources, thereby impacting their ability to manage natural resources sustainably.GBV's multifaceted implications on agricultural production and livelihoods make it a critical issue to address, particularly in regions where women's agricultural contributions are central to their economic well-being and food security.In Nigeria, where GBV poses a significant challenge, statistics reveal that 28% of women have experienced physical violence, while 7% have experienced sexual violence.GBV not only restricts women farmers' access to land, credit, and markets but also has a profound impact on their physical and mental well-being, impairing their ability to contribute to their families' livelihoods.
Empowering women economically and socially, promoting gender equality, and involving men and boys in efforts to address GBV are essential components of addressing this issue and fostering sustainable agricultural livelihoods.
Gender-based violence (GBV) is a pervasive global issue with severe repercussions for women, particularly those engaged in agriculture.Despite the essential role women farmers play in contributing to food security and poverty reduction, they often encounter obstacles like limited access to resources, discrimination, and unequal power dynamics.GBV further exacerbates these challenges, inhibiting women's full participation in agricultural activities, hindering their access to vital resources, and undermining their economic well-being.Addressing GBV in rural areas necessitates a comprehensive approach encompassing legal reforms, awareness campaigns, and improved access to support services, alongside the promotion of gender equality.Understanding the specific challenges faced by women farmers and the factors contributing to GBV in this context is critical.
Therefore, the problem statement of this study is to investigate the prevalence, impact  The study on the effects of gender-based violence (GBV) on women farmers' livelihoods in Nigeria is significant for several reasons.
It adds to the growing body of literature on GBV in Nigeria and provides a deeper understanding of the unique experiences of women farmers in rural areas.It also sheds light on the impact of GBV on women farmers' agricultural production, which has implications for food security and rural development in Nigeria and the study's findings can inform policy and practice aimed at curbing GBV in agricultural production in Nigeria, which can improve the lives of women farmers and promote gender equality.Therefore, the study on the effects of GBV on women farmers' livelihoods in Nigeria is significant because it addresses a critical gap in knowledge, contributes to the attainment of sustainable development goals, and has practical implications for policy and practice.LGA, all chosen using simple random sampling.Finally, in the fifth stage, individual women farmers will be selected from these communities, with five respondents chosen from each town community, culminating in a total of 60 respondents.

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Similarly, in Anambra State, a Multistage sampling procedure was also used for the research study.The study focuses on three senatorial zones: Anambra North, Anambra Central, and Anambra East.Within each of these zones, specific Local Government Areas (LGAs) are selected.For instance, in Anambra North, LGAs like Idemili North, Idemili South, and Njikoka are chosen.From these LGAs, particular communities, including town communities, are identified.Some of the town communities selected are Ogidi and Nkpor in Idemili North, Akwa-Ukwu and Oba in Idemili South, and Abagana and Nimo in Njikoka.In each of these town communities, five respondents are selected, totalling 60 respondents for the research study.The research design employed in this study is a survey method, where closed-ended questionnaires and face-to-face interviews were used as primary data collection instruments to investigate gender-based violence (GBV) experienced by women farmers in three agricultural zones.
These zones were explored to assess the socio-economic characteristics of the women farmers and their farming-related factors, such as age, education level, marital status, household size, farm size, farm ownership, participation in social organizations, access to credit, income level, and religious affiliation.Additionally, the study evaluated the effects of GBV on women's lives and agricultural production, utilizing a Likert-type scale to gauge the severity of these effects.Strategies for mitigating the impact of GBV on agricultural production were also explored on the same scale.The data analysis process involved the presentation of socio-economic characteristics, effects of GBV on women, and strategies for addressing GBV's effects using various statistical methods such as frequency and percentage for objectives 1, mean and standard deviation for objectives 2 & 3.The statistical software IBM SPSS Statistics version 21.0 was employed for the analysis.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
The findings of the study were presented under the following subheadings: Socio-economic characteristics of the respondents

Socio-Economic Characteristics
In the study conducted in Enugu State, the results presented in In Enugu State, 51.7% of women farmers had completed tertiary education, 13.3% stopped at primary school, 30% finished secondary school, and 5% had vocational education, signifying a relatively high level of formal education among the respondents.
These findings align with Sholatan et al., (2019), emphasizing the positive impact of education as a social capital, which enables individuals to make informed decisions and manage their agricultural businesses effectively, even in the absence of their husbands.In Anambra State, the result illustrates that the majority (55%) of respondents had completed secondary education, while 25% completed primary education, 15% had vocational education, and 5% had tertiary education.This data reveals that most respondents in Anambra State had at least a secondary school education, supporting the ability to read and write, as noted by Oyelami et al., (2018).In Enugu State, the farm income of women farmers is around ₦32,000, and their average monthly non-farm income is approximately ₦16,000 (Figure 1).These findings are consistent with studies by suggesting that women farmers often prioritize sustainable agricultural practices and cost-reducing activities while focusing on the well-being of their communities, especially when the average woman in Enugu State earns barely above minimum wage.This reflects the economic constraints and responsibilities that women face, as supported by the studies of Pierotti et al., (2022) that highlight the burden of family responsibilities, which may limit women's time for farm productivity.In Anambra State, the majority (52%) of respondents earn annual incomes between ₦500,000 and ₦950,000, with a mean income of ₦963,333.33and monthly income of ₦80,277.78.This income level represents over half of the surveyed women farmers in Anambra State, indicating a moderate earning capacity.These findings also suggest that this income group is vulnerable to economic and livelihood disruptions caused by gender-based violence.

Figure 1 Income categories of the respondents in both states
The results in Enugu State indicate that the majority of women farmers have relatively small farm sizes (Figure 2), with 66.3% having less than 0.4 acres and only 27.3% possessing land sizes between 0.4 and 0.9 acres.Additionally, 53.3% of the women inherited the land from their deceased husbands, while 23.3% rented land using funds from various sources.This situation appears to be influenced by cultural norms prevalent in the villages of Enugu North and Enugu East senatorial zones, where women are often not allowed to inherit land, in contrast to male farmers, as supported by Dimelu  that the majority (91.7%) of respondents have farm sizes of less than 2 acres, with only 8.3% having farm sizes exceeding 2 acres.The mean farm size is 1.417 acres.This data also shows that a significant proportion of women in Anambra State have small farms, potentially making them more economically vulnerable and limiting their agency in making decisions about farming practices and resource allocation, which aligns with the findings of.
In Enugu State, the results reveal that 53.3% of women farmers have access to credit sources, with personal sources being the most prominent at 25%, followed by thrift/issue at 15%.This data indicates that women farmers in Enugu State have limited access to credit, contradicting the findings of Haruna et al., (2023), which suggested that women often face limited avenues for credit and financial support for farming due to their lack of collateral for obtaining loans and grants.In Anambra State, the results (Table 2) show that a majority (83.3%) of respondents have access to credit, while 16.7% do not.This high percentage of women with access to credit suggests that a significant portion of women farmers in Anambra State have the means to secure financial resources for their agricultural activities, which contradicts the work of Osahon, (2019) suggesting limited access to credit.Access to credit can empower women to invest in their farming operations, purchase necessary inputs, and enhance their agricultural productivity.

Figure 2 Farm Size of respondents in both states
In Enugu State, the results indicate that women farmers have limited access to extension agents, with only 11.7% having had access, while the majority, 88.3%, have not had any contact with extension agents.The data also shows that most women farmers belong to various social groups, with the majority (36.7%) being part of religious groups.This suggests that agricultural extension services programs are primarily directed towards male farmers, often leaving women without access to essential information and innovations related to their agricultural activities, consistent with the findings of which highlighted the tendency to exclude women from innovations.In Anambra State, the results show that the majority (70%) of respondents have not had extension contact, with only 30% reporting such contact.This aligns with the reports from Bamenju et al., (2022) indicating a lack of extension services in Anambra State, emphasizing the need for substantial improvements in extension services in the state to support women farmers and enhance their agricultural practices.

Effects of gender-based violence on the women farmers' agricultural livelihood in Anambra and Enugu states
Table 3   This simply explains that opinions and experiences concerning the feasibility and effectiveness of these strategies are more divergent among the respondents.Cultural norms and attitudes, in particular, vary significantly by region and community, making the standard deviation in this category notably high and this particular result agrees with studies by on the relationship between genderbased violence and culture which shows that scraping cultural norms and attitudes are not easy to achieve and can aggravate the issue rather than curb it.Overall, the findings suggest that a multifaceted approach is necessary to address the effects of gender-based violence on women farmers' agricultural livelihoods in Anambra state.These strategies include; awareness, empowerment, policy, and support system improvements, all aimed at creating a safer and more equitable environment for women in agriculture.The high average scores explain that there is strong support for these strategies among the research participants and these findings agree with that of.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The study reveals that the majority of the women farmers have a high knowledge of gender=based violence as they have experienced a form of gender-based violence themselves and these women farmers are affected by gender-based violence as they exhibit signs like anxiety, depression, PTSD, low self-esteem, severe issues etc.The study also shows that the effects GBV on women farmers also affects their agricultural livelihood and production level in different ways such as; low production which reduces income and thereby further reduces the standard of their living.
1.The study shows that the awareness of GBV was relatively high therefore, the extension agencies and non-governmental organizations should develop targeted and strategic awareness campaigns addressing both urban and rural populations to sustain awareness about the consequences of gender-based violence and promote gender equality.
2. The communities should develop & implement comprehensive programs that equip women with practical skills to enhance their economic autonomy, reducing their vulnerability to violence.
3. Government should establish accessible support systems eg.counselling services, legal assistance, and safe spaces for victims to seek help and justice.
, and factors contributing to GBV among women farmers in Nigeria.The pertinent questions therefore are; What are the socio-economic characteristics of women farmers in Enugu & Anambra state?What are women farmers' experiences of gender-based violence in Enugu & Anambra state?What are the effects of gender-based violence on women farmers in Enugu & Anambra state?What are the effects of gender-based violence on women's agricultural livelihood in Enugu & Anambra state?What are strategies for curbing the effect of gender-based violence on agricultural production in Enugu & Anambra state?This study aims to examine the effects of gender-based violence (GBV) on women farmers' livelihoods in Nigeria and its specific objectives were to; 1. Determine the socio-economic characteristics of women farmers in Enugu & Anambra state; 2. Examine the effect of gender-based violence on women's agricultural livelihood in Enugu & Anambra state.

3 .
Determine the strategies for curbing the effects of gender-based violence on agricultural production in Enugu and Anambra states.
examines the effects of GBV on Agricultural production in Anambra and Enugu.With a cut-off mean of 3.0, The studies in Enugu show that gender-based violence has the following effects on the agricultural livelihood of the farmers and agricultural production; Limited opportunities for diversification (X= 4.00) which is a result of the women's business being run into the ground because of these acts of violence, low crop yield(X= 4.02) mostly because when a woman is beaten by her husband, she lacks the energy to work, emotional exhaustion(X=4.42),physical exhaustion (X= 4.40) and this so high because a wounded person cannot do farm work.Reduced productivity of the women can lead to low income (X= 4.33).Other significant variables include limited freedom due to fear(X= 4.32), decreased motivation to work(X= 4.20), loss of assets and income by the victim(X= 4.05), restriction from land resources(X= 4.20), reduced ability to participate in training and extension services(X= 3.97), reduce livestock production(X= 3.75), reduction in labour supply due to injury or death from exhaustion and overworking(X= 3.75), reduced marketing skills of the victim(X= 3.52), difficulty in accessing credit and other financial resources(X= 3.43), reduced involvement in agricultural related community organization(X= 3.40) and rural-urban migration(X= 3.25).The study in Anambra shows that gender-based violence has the following effects on the agricultural livelihood of the farmers and agricultural production; limited opportunities for diversification (X =3.72), low crop yield (X=4.35), physical exhaustion (X=4.70),emotional exhaustion (X=4.58),reduced ability to participate in trainings and extension services (X=3.57),restriction from land resources (X= 3.70), decreased motivation to work (X=3.97),limited freedom due to fear (X=4.37),low income (X=4.37),reduced livestock production (X=4.53),difficulty in accessing loan and other financial resources (X=3.57),reduced involvement in agricultural activities (X= 3.52), rural-urban migration (X=3.70),reduction in labour supply due to injury or death from exhaustion and overworking (X=4.58),loss of assets and income (X= 4.25), reduced marketing skills (X=3.87)and these results are all resultant from the reasons as explained above.From the above results obtained from Anambra and Enugu, the various analysis shows that all the agricultural effects presented to the farmers were very significant as they all affected their agricultural livelihood.The results agree with the reports byChikaire et al., (2018) which means that all rural women farmers experience the same effects on their agricultural livelihood in Igbo land or elsewhere after facing gender-based violence.
Eze et al., (2020)22)ignificant portion of women farmers were within the economically active age group, with 16.6% below 30 years, 26.7% between 30 to 39 years, and 23.3% between 40-49 years.The mean age of the women farmers was 43 years, aligning with findings fromBashir et al., (2021)in Enugu State.In Anambra State, the majority of respondents (35%) fell within the 31-40 age range, considered able-bodied and in their prime working years.The mean age was calculated at 47.68 years, suggesting that a substantial portion of women farmers in Anambra State were relatively youthful.It's important to note that women in the 31-40 age group are particularly vulnerable to gender-based violence due to their activeOkonkwo et al., 2019).In Anambra State, the majority (65%) of the respondents were married, with 18.3% being widowed, 8.3% single, and 8.3% divorced or separated, further highlighting the predominance of married respondents.The preference for marriage among the respondents is emphasized, as indicated by (Chris et al., 2020).The results for Enugu State indicate the household sizes of women farmers, with 51.3% having households of 2-5 people, 36.6% having 6-8 family members, 10% having more than 8 members, and 1.7% having less than 2 people in their households.The prevalence of larger household sizes in the study area, contrary to findings byWaheed et al., (2022)that suggested an average household size of around 6 for farmers, reflects changes in modern times, where labour sources have diversified, and the cost of living has risen, prompting rural families to have fewer children.In Anambra State, the majority (51.7%) of respondents had household sizes of 7-12 people, and 48.3% had 1-6 members in their households, with a mean household size of 7 people.This suggests that a significant proportion of women farmers in Anambra State were part of relatively larger households, as highlighted byEze et al., (2020).In Enugu State, Table1reveals that 51.8% of women farmers had around 2-11 years of farming experience, while 3.3% had less than 2 years, 28.4% had 12-21 years, 10.1% had 22-31 years, and 6.7% had more than 31 years of experience.The presence of women with substantial farming experience suggests their potential for greater efficiency, climatic knowledge, and proficiency in profitable agricultural practices, which is consistent with who noted high farming experience among Enugu State farmers.In Anambra State, the majority (45%) of respondents had less than 11 years of farming experience, while 20% had 11-20 years, 15% had 21-30 years, 13.3% had 41 years and above, and 6.7% had 31-40 years of farming experience, with an average of 19.4 years.This data suggests that many women are relatively new to farming, possibly turning to agriculture out of economic necessity, as noted by the World Health Organization, which could indicate a shift towards agriculture for livelihood support or additional income.
(Diaga et al., 2018)icultural activities, exposing them to various forms of abuse(Diaga et al., 2018).The findings presented in the table for Enugu and Anambra States indicate the marital status of women farmers.In Enugu State, the majority (51.7%) of the respondents were married, while 30% were single, 13.3% were widowed, and 5% were divorced or separated.This suggests that most of the women farmers were married, implying stability and responsibility in their agricultural tasks, aligning ARTICLE | OPEN ACCESS Discovery Agriculture 10, e1da1540 (2024) 4 of 10 with previous research by (

Table 2
Institutional characteristics of Respondents in Enugu & Anambra state.

Table 3
Effect of gender-based violence on women's agricultural livelihood in Enugu & Anambra state.

Strategies for curbing the effects of gender-based violence on agricultural production in Enugu and Anambra states
Table4assesses the strategies for curbing the effects of gender-based violence on agricultural production in Enugu and Anambra states.With a cut-off mean of 3.0, the analysis of the Likert-scale questions showed the following strategies are very significant in On the other hand, the women vehemently disagreed that scraping cultural norms and attitudes that influence gender-based violence(X=2.82)& investment in strategies for curbing gender-based violence(X=2.82) have not and will not be effective in curbing GBV seeing as it has not worked in the past as many reported cases has amounted to no results.Also, majority of them were very undecided on the strategy of gender-sensitive agricultural practices(X=2.93)as it will create a rift between the men and women who will think the wives are out to take their place in the society/family.Also in Anambra state, the result shows that strategies for curbing the effects of gender-based violence in Anambra state include; creation of awareness (X= 4.83), training and capacity building (X=4.83),policies and regulations (X=4.73),creating access to support systems (X=4.53),gender- sensitive agricultural practices (X= 4.38), women participation and empowerment (X=4.53),program follow up (X=4.45),skill acquisitions (X=4.65),collaborations and partnerships (X=4.52),accessibility to support systems (X= 4.73), scraping cultural norms and attitudes that influence GBV (X=4.53),reporting mechanisms for GBV (X=4.38),enforcement and implementation of policies and regulations on GBV (X=4.53),investments in strategies for curbing the effects of GBV (X=4.60),investment in strategies for addressing the root causes of GBV (X=4.63).

Table 4
Strategies for curbing the effects of gender-based violence on agricultural production in Enugu and Anambra states ARTICLE | OPEN ACCESSDiscovery Agriculture 10, e1da1540 (2024) 9 of 10