COMMERCIAL TOBACCO FARMING AND FEMALE SUBORDINATION IN AGRICULTURE: A NIGERIAN CASE STUDY
This research note contains the report of an investigation into the impact of commercial flue-cured tobacco farming on the family structures of tobacco growers in a Nigerian rural Yoruba community of Oyo State. Fifty tobacco farm family units served as subjects of investigation. The investigation revealed that with the adoption of commercial tobacco farming, the socio-economic position and role of women in the community have become subordinate to those of their husbands. This development is attributed to the customary practice which requires women to render services on the farms of their husbands whenever their husbands demand such, to the full involvement of women in the flue-cured tobacco production programmes, and to the inability of women to earn independent income in and outside the tobacco production system