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Paper short abstract

This study explores how gender inequalities in rural financial systems shape how men and women fish farmer’s access and negotiate agricultural credit, with implications for productivity, power relations, and livelihood security.

Paper long abstract

This study examines the structural and gendered determinants of access to formal, semi-formal, and informal credit among small-scale fish farmers in Nigeria. Drawing on primary data from 134 male and 107 female farmers, the analysis employs Binary Logistic Regression and Average Marginal Effects (AME) to compare how methodological choices reveal gendered patterns of financial inclusion. The results reveal differentiated drivers of credit access across gender and credit regimes. For formal credit, access among women was positively shaped by farming experience (β = 0.262, p = 0.039) but constrained by loan default history (β = −2.345, p = 0.038), reflecting institutional perceptions of risk that disproportionately disadvantage female farmers. Among men, age (β = 0.117, p = 0.018) and ease of repayment (β = 0.373, p = 0.027) were significant, suggesting differing social positions and bargaining capacities within financial institutions. In the semi-formal sector, near-universal access among women (102/107) resulted in quasi-complete separation, highlighting methodological limitations and the potential homogenizing effect of some community-based structures. For informal credit, production cycles moderately shaped access among women (β = 0.675, p = 0.069), whereas training (β = 1.165, p = 0.020) and production cycles (β = 0.672, p = 0.047) were key determinants for men. The AME analysis further identified education and ease of access as substantively important. Overall, the findings underscore the layered nature of gendered financial exclusion and the need for policies that address structural constraints, institutional bias, and the differentiated credit ecologies shaping agrarian livelihoods.