Policy Options for Agricultural Investments and Governance of Markets: In support of small-scale agriculture in Nigeria

Overview

In 2012 Oxfam and IIED joined forces to create Tipping the Balance a global report exploring the connection between the policy and practice of investment and market governance in small scale agriculture in four countries: Nigeria, Tanzania, Guatemala and the Philippines.

This research report examines the role of policy in Nigeria in influencing corporate investment in agricultural land, production and primary processing with a view to unravelling two interrelated research questions: How do both women and men smallholders experience corporate investments in agricultural land production and primary processing? And how do the policy and legislative environments shape corporate investments (both domestic and foreign) in agricultural land, production and primary processing in support of or in opposition to the interests of small-scale producers (with emphasis on women and other marginalized producers) and the ecosystems on which they depend?

The other important broad area of concern is how market governance is shaped in favour or against smallholder production. This in turn raises the question of how both women and men smallholders (as individuals and as part of organisations, with different levels of assets) experience poor market governance. How can improved market governance, in the form of regulation and incentives, build resilient, sustainable agriculture, which is inclusive of smallholders, provides benefits for women and can help to reduce poverty?