Journal of African Real Estate Research Volume 6, Issue 1 Special Issue: Women in African Real Estate and Urban Development Research Improvements in Women’s Access to Rural Farmland: The case of Ile-Ife, Nigeria Augustina Chiwuzie 1 , Olusegun Adebayo Ogunba 2 and Daniel Ibrahim Dabara 3 1 Department of Estate Management, Federal Polytechnic Ede, Nigeria. 2 Department of Estate Management, Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife, Nigeria. 3 Department of Estate Management, University of Ibadan, Nigeria To cite this article: Chiwuzie, A. Ogunba, O.A. & Dabara, D.I. (2021). Improvement in Women’s Access to Rural Farmland. Journal of African Real Estate Research, 6(1), pp.43-62. DOI: 10.15641/jarer.v6i1.927. Abstract The study investigates women's access to rural farmlands in Ile-Ife, Nigeria, in the context of land availability, affordability, tenure security and ease of transaction. A qualitative research design was employed. Purposive and stratified sampling were utilised to obtain data from four key informants and 13 rural women farmers in Ajebandele village of Ile-Ife, Nigeria. Themes emerged from the responses through content analysis. Findings revealed that women's access to land has improved over the past four decades. The study concludes that despite the improvements, gender equality had not been fully achieved as rural women farmers lack tenure security. Keywords: Land Allocation Process; Gender Inequality; Land Affordability; Poverty Alleviation; Tenure Security 1. Introduction Land remains an essential resource for rural and urban people, particularly in the developing countries where the majority of the population depends on agriculture for their livelihoods (FAO, 2011). Lastarria-Cornhiel and Frais (2009) asserted that land represents a valuable cultural resource, a productive factor and capital asset, and those who control land rights have a certain amount of power over those who do not, especially in rural agrarian economies. In most of Africa, agricultural landholding is governed by customary land tenure systems. According to Pottier (2005), the land was considered a resource that all community members should have access to for 1 okagusta@yahoo.com