Making Subsidy Reform Work for Women in Nigeria

The document examines the gendered impacts of fossil fuel subsidy reform in Nigeria, highlighting how increased energy prices can reduce women's economic opportunities and worsen respiratory health due to a shift toward biomass fuels. It advocates for a "precautionary principle" in policy design, suggesting targeted compensation such as in-kind transfers, micro-loans for women, and the promotion of domestic clean cooking technologies like LPG and improved stoves. The authors emphasize that the government can improve public acceptance of reform by credibly demonstrating that vulnerable women are protected and that subsidy savings are reinvested into effective energy access policies.

• Subsidy reform in Nigeria is expected to increase petroleum and kerosene prices, creating an 'income effect' where women are more likely to lose out because they generally have less influence over household spending than men. In Nigeria's poorest households, 44% of women are unemployed compared to 19% of men, and 93.1% of married working women earn less than their husbands.
• Higher energy prices may drive a shift toward cheaper biomass for cooking and lighting, which disproportionately affects women who typically collect fuel and cook. This increase in biomass use leads to higher indoor air pollution and respiratory diseases; the World Health Organization attributes over 95,000 deaths per year in Nigeria to smoke from firewood and traditional biomass.
• Research in Ekiti State demonstrates a significantly higher prevalence of respiratory symptoms among women using biomass fuels compared to those using non-biomass fuels, including higher rates of cough (13.7% vs 3.7%), wheezing (8.7% vs 2.8%), and chronic bronchitis (10.6% vs 2.8%).
• While subsidy reform can improve energy supply networks and increase access to clean fuels in the medium term, the government should adopt a "precautionary principle" due to a lack of precise data on how the poorest women will be affected.
• To mitigate negative impacts, the document suggests targeting compensation to women through in-kind transfers (e.g., healthcare and education), cash transfers where women are the recipients, micro-loans for women entrepreneurs, and infrastructure projects like street lighting to reduce violence or wells to save time on water collection.
• The government is encouraged to promote clean cooking stoves and liquid petroleum gas (LPG) as alternatives to kerosene, specifically by establishing domestic production to create employment and ensure safety standards are met.
• Effective communication of the reform should shift the narrative from saving money to improving lives, emphasizing that the government is protecting the vulnerable and that previous kerosene subsidies failed to make clean fuel affordable for the poorest.

APA

Kitson, L., Beaton, C., & Ohaeri, V. (2016). Making Subsidy Reform Work for Women in Nigeria. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/subsidy-reform-woman-nigeria-briefing-note_0.pdf

Chicago

Kitson, Lucy, Christopher Beaton, and Victoria Ohaeri. Making Subsidy Reform Work for Women in Nigeria. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2016. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/subsidy-reform-woman-nigeria-briefing-note_0.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Kitson |first1=Lucy |last2=Beaton |first2=Christopher |last3=Ohaeri |first3=Victoria |title=Making Subsidy Reform Work for Women in Nigeria |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=March 2016 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/subsidy-reform-woman-nigeria-briefing-note_0.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{kitson2016making, author = {Kitson, Lucy and Beaton, Christopher and Ohaeri, Victoria}, title = {{Making Subsidy Reform Work for Women in Nigeria}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2016}, month = mar, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/subsidy-reform-woman-nigeria-briefing-note_0.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }