Digital financial services, gender and climate-resilience pathways for sustainable agriculture in Nigeria

Abstract

This study examines associations between use of Digital Financial Services (DFS) and climate adaptation intensity, used as a proxy for resilience-related livelihood capacity, among smallholder farmers in Nigeria, with explicit attention to gender differences. Drawing on a cross-sectional survey of 600 smallholder farmers across six geopolitical zones, the analysis combines descriptive statistics, econometric models (double-hurdle and ordered logit), and principal component analysis. DFS adoption was higher among male farmers (68%) than female farmers (51%). Results from the double-hurdle model indicate that education (β = 0.091, p < 0.01), farm income (β = 0.0003, p < 0.05), access to extension services (β = 0.215, p < 0.05), and mobile phone ownership (β = 0.337, p < 0.01) significantly increased the likelihood of DFS adoption, while female gender was negatively associated with adoption (β = − 0.283, p < 0.01). Ordered logit estimates show that DFS adoption was positively associated with higher adaptation intensity (β = 0.451, p < 0.01), with digital credit (β = 0.298, p < 0.05) and digital savings (β = 0.267, p < 0.05) showing particularly strong associations with the adoption of resource-intensive strategies such as improved seed varieties and irrigation. Digital insurance uptake was low (below 6%) and not statistically significant. The findings indicate associative rather than causal relationships due to the cross-sectional design and highlight the importance of gender-responsive digital finance interventions for strengthening climate adaptation pathways in Nigerian agriculture. Policy implications focus on inclusive digital finance as a pathway for strengthening climate adaptation and resilience-related capacity, particularly among women. Policy implications include gender-targeted digital literacy and technology access programmes, expansion of mobile phone ownership among women, and design of gender-responsive digital finance interventions to promote inclusive climate-resilient agricultural outcomes.