Participation of Women in Agriculture: Reality or Rhetoric? (original) (raw)
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Gender Disparities and the Role of Women in Smallholder Agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa
International Journal of Science and Research, 2016
Gender equality is a basic human right that requires that men and women be treated equally with respect to resources, legislation and policies. Gender-based discrimination results in serious gaps in political, social and economic participation. In sub-Saharan Africa, agriculture is the livelihood of nearly 70% of the economically active population. For the rural poor, agriculture is the main source of employment and income, although the income generated is low. A host of factors leading to low yields means that many households continue to be food insecure. High rates of hunger are strongly linked to gender inequality. The agricultural sector is underperforming in many sub-Saharan African countries, in part because women do not have equal access to the resources and opportunities they need to become more productive. Women smallholder farmers in the sub-Saharan African region face numerous constraints. They may have access to land but very few actually own or have title to it; their plots tend to be less fertile than those belonging to men; they have fewer farm tools and equipment; and limited access to farm credit, inputs, technologies and information. In addition, women farmers lack access to improved seeds, reliable water supplies, markets, financing and insurance options, and moreover, suffer from unsupportive public policies. Furthermore, smallholder African women farmers often do not get paid for the farm work that they do, nor do they always earn and control the income from sales, a factor that may affect their incentives to effectively participate in agricultural production. Research also shows that development policies and practices often exacerbate the situation as they do not offer women farmers equal access to development resources, training and information, thereby limiting their opportunities and ability to contribute to agricultural development, food security and poverty reduction. The household and societal pay-offs to reducing women's constraints in productive activities are significant. Closing the agricultural gender gap would result in significant gains for the agricultural sector as well as society as a whole. Increasing the opportunities for women can have a powerful impact on productivity and agricultural-led growth. Women are just as efficient agricultural producers as men and can achieve similar yields when given access to resources, including training and services.
Women in Agriculture in Contemporary Africa
The Palgrave Handbook of African Women's Studies
Agriculture remains one of the most important livelihood options for women across Africa, yet there are multiple challenges which include lack of access to land and productive assets, credit, and markets. In this chapter, we use a systematic review of the literature to analyze how women intersect and participate in the agriculture space in Africa. The chapter draws from multiple studies on women in agriculture across Africa and focuses on important thematic areas including land access, labor, agricultural policy, decision-making, livestock, and horticulture. Throughout the analysis, it is clear that women are largely marginalized and excluded from the lucrative parts of the agricultural value chain. Agriculture is thus largely constructed as a patriarchal system in which women play subordinate roles. Such a state of affairs poses serious challenges given that the vast majority
Good and Efficient? Women’s Voice in Agriculture
The potential of engaging female agricultural producers in high value crop activities has been in the increasing focus of much of the recent development literature and policy discourse. Using a rich representative household survey for Malawi, this work draws a profile of successful women farmers and the policies and interventions associated with this profile. Our study finds that female cash crop decision-making has significant impact on both efficiency and welfare. Female cash crop decision-making is encouraged by female ownership of land, credit allocations to women, and village-level infrastructure (development agencies, savings and credit unions). La capacité des productrices agricoles de s'engager dans des activités agricoles fortement rémunératrices a été d'un intérêt croissant en grande partie dans la literature récente du développement. A partir d'une enquête riche et représentative auprès des ménages du Malawi, ce travail dresse le profil des agricultrices reussies et les politiques et les interventions associées à ce profil. Notre etude montre que la prise de decision feminine de la culture de rente a un effet significatif sur l'efficacité et le bien-être. La prise de decision feminine de la culture de rente est incité par la possession de terre par les femmes, des allocations de credit aux femmes, et l'infrastructure villageoise (agences de développement, d'épargne, et de cooperatives de credit).
Insights from two case studies on the socio-economic status of women farmers in low-income societies
Women continue to dominate the agriculture sector in most non-industrial, low income societies around the world. Despite their significant contributions in agriculture, their work is undervalued and they are marginalised due to social norms and traditions. Based on this reality, the paper investigates the current socioeconomic status of women farmers through two descriptive case studies based in rural Jamaica and in rural Nepal. Thematic content analysis was employed to analyse the data, using the women's empowerment in agriculture index, including education, resources, production, income diversity, and workload. The findings reveal that access to education, resources and income diversity are crucial to improving the socioeconomic status of women farmers.. His teaching focuses on urban and regional planning, and his research is centered on issues in urban and rural development and disaster management. Brenda Bushell is a Professor in the Department of English Language and Media Communication at the University of the Sacred Heart. Her teaching focuses on gender and sustainable society, and her research is centered on women's livelihoods and entrepreneurship.
Women Farmers’ (Dis)Empowerment Compared to Men Farmers in Ethiopia
World Medical & Health Policy, 2018
In Sub-Saharan Africa, women's farm labor is highest in Ethiopia. Using focus group discussions with 240 farmers and other research tools, our USAID-funded Feed the Future Innovation for the Reduction of Post-Harvest Loss-Ethiopia study explores the sources of (dis)empowerment of rural farmers in Ethiopia. We find that women are disempowered across all five domains of empowerment due to cultural factors, despite government and financial institution policy changes. Women with low education tend to engage in low risk/return farming practices, including growing less nutritious crops, thereby undermining nutritional security of the household. Our findings confirm that women's role increases to as much as 80 percent in post-harvest. Poor storage technologies resulting in fungal/pest infections and chemicals in stored grains pose serious health risks for women, and poor women consume grains with up to 50 percent damage. Food security and development policies should empower women and promote improved technologies-particularly targeting women-to reduce grain losses and women's work burden while mitigating health risks.
This article contributes to development research, as well as research studying inequality in agricultural systems. We use empirical data from an ethnographic study in the village of Mamba, in northern Tanzania (2006–2009). This study analyzes the question of changing gender relations and the patriarchal constraints to collective action under market liberalization of cash crops. Our findings demonstrate that the shift to a market economy has influenced the nature of production relations, deepening inequalities in gender relations and the position of women. However, some women circumvent their disadvantaged situations through their association with various types of collective action groups or networks. In order to investigate the different impacts on women's lives, we analyze women's interest and motivations for these collective actions. We also identify the processes of adaptation to the new production relations through the coffee trade network and tomato cultivation groups, two local initiatives. We analyze the differences between these two forms of collective action and theorize on their different impacts on women's empowerment.
The project ‘Building Capacity in Gender Analysis and Gender Mainstreaming in the NARS of ASARECA’ emerged in response to the general urgency for agricultural research and development systems in Sub-Saharan African region to more effectively address the needs of those constituency groups, particularly poor women small-holders, who are vulnerable to the effects of poverty, land degradation and climate change. More specifically, the project emerged in response to the need for agricultural research and development systems to adopt ‘demand- driven’ agendas of innovation, and integrate gender-sensitive participatory approaches into the structures and cultures of their organizational practice to more effectively respond to the complex social and environmental realities of vulnerable groups. The project’s agenda was to influence the policies of agricultural research and development systems, while improving implementation and delivery of services directly benefitting vulnerable groups, such...