Poverty among smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa has been associated with low agricultural productivity emanating from gender yield gaps among other factors. Using data collected from smallholder groundnut producers in Nigeria, we analyzed the gender yield gap by applying the exogenous switching regression (ESR) model and Oaxaca–Blinder (OB) decomposition framework. Results from the two complementary approaches showed a significant gender yield gap in favor of male headed households (MHHs). The main and significant source of the gap was differences in resources/endowments. We found that involving female headed households (FHHs) in prerequisite yield augmenting activities like technology validation trials, testing, and demonstrations is critical in closing the existing yield gap.

System of Rice Intensification (SRI) practices are expected to be used in location-specific ways and thus will vary somewhat across countries and regions. This study undertook to identify a ‘best-bet’ version of SRI for conditions in northwestern Nigeria, considering what is feasible for farmer use. Two years of experimental data from 260 farmer-managed rice plots evaluating four of the SRI practices in Zamfara State were analyzed. The variables evaluated were seedling age at transplanting, plant density, irrigation schedule, and fertilizer application. Farm budget analysis showed that the best-bet SRI practices most productive given the natural environment and farming system were transplanting 11-day-old seedlings at 25 cm × 25 cm spacing, with alternate wetting-and-drying of fields, as well as providing full compost plus some inorganic fertilization. Net economic returns were found to be highest with best-bet SRI practices and ranged from USD 1450–2120 ha⁻¹. While rice production was profitable under both SRI and more conventional management, the return on investment was at least 40% higher with SRI practices than with the other practices evaluated. Based on our data and analysis, we recommend that the Nigerian government and its development partners prioritize and expand the testing and promotion of SRI in the northwest and other regions of the country. This initiative can significantly enhance farmers’ incomes and, ultimately, bolster food security.

Screenhouse farming demonstrates remarkable water-use efficiency, requiring only 7.00 liters per kg for cabbage, 3.58 liters/kg for lettuce, and 2.38 liters/kg for spinach, a significant contrast to rainfed cabbage at 10,625 liters/kg and rainfed pumpkin at 17,628 liters/kg. This means screenhouse farming uses just 0.066% of the water consumed by rainfed cabbage and 0.014% of the water used by rainfed pumpkin. While screenhouse farming involves higher investment costs at ₦5,342,973 per hectare, making it 764% more expensive than rainfed farming, it offers superior yield efficiency. In contrast, rainfed farming has a lower cost of ₦698,972 per hectare but suffers from reduced productivity and inefficient resource utilization. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are significantly lower in screenhouse farming, with lettuce producing only 3.24 kg CO2-eq/kg, just 2.74% of the emissions generated by rainfed lettuce, which releases 118.25 kg CO2-eq/kg. Similarly, screenhouse farming is more energy-efficient, with spinach requiring only 0.09 MJ/kg, amounting to 3.4% of the energy demand of irrigated pumpkin, which stands at 2.62 MJ/kg. These findings highlight the advantages of screenhouse farming in reducing water consumption, emissions, and energy demand, while irrigated farming ensures stable moisture levels but requires substantial water resources. Rainfed farming minimizes irrigation dependency but lacks productivity efficiency, underscoring the need for sustainable irrigation strategies such as drip irrigation, fertigation, and rainwater harvesting to enhance long-term resource conservation in vegetable production..

Achieving Net Zero Emissions in vegetable production systems is a critical challenge in dryland climates of low- and middle-income countries, yet limited data exists to assess the feasibility of such systems. This study employs life cycle inventory methods to evaluate key performance metrics, including yield per land area, production costs, cumulative energy demand (CED), global warming potential (GWP), and water use (WU) for Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) in screen houses and field-based tomato production systems in Northern Nigeria. The findings reveal that CEA, despite its high production cost of ₦24,070.80 per m², achieves the highest yield of 28.57 kg per m². Additionally, CEA demonstrates superior efficiency, exhibiting the lowest C ED (0.025 MJ/kg) and GWP (0.76 kg CO₂-eq/kg). In contrast, rainfed field production, while having the lowest cost (₦58.45 per m²), results in the lowest yield (0.08 kg/m²) and the highest GWP (34,545.8%). Irrigated field production performs moderately, with a production cost of ₦150.38 per m², a yield of 0.22 kg per m², and a GWP of 12,572.4%. A key factor influencing yield variation across production systems is the difference in tomato varieties cultivated in open-field and CEA environments. CEA relies on hybrid varieties optimized for controlled conditions, whereas open-field farming utilizes varieties adapted to outdoor environmental fluctuations, contributing to disparities in yield potential. This study highlights the trade-offs between cost, yield, energy efficiency, and environmental impact across different production models. The results underscore the advantages of adopting more efficient and controlled cultivation methods like CEA, offering potential pathways for sustainable and environmentally responsible agricultural practices in regions facing climate and resource constraints.