Women in African Agriculture: Integrating Women Into Value Chains to Build a Stronger Sector
ZEF Working Paper Series 175
42 Pages Posted: 6 Nov 2018
Date Written: October 15, 2018
Abstract
Women are under-acknowledged participants in Africa’s agriculture and food sector, supplying a large share of the labor, but facing significant obstacles, including unequal access to land, traditional division of labor, restrictions on mobility, unequal educational attainment, financial exclusion, and gender norms. As a result, women are being constrained to lower productivity jobs and earning less than men. Their underrepresented persists all along agricultural value chains. These inequalities translate into lower welfare outcomes for women in addition to inefficient productivity gaps with negative consequences for food security on the continent. Technical and institutional innovations in agricultural value chains must therefore be developed and implemented in a way that considers the particular constraints faced by women in agriculture in order to be fully effective and to avoid further solidifying gender roles and gaps. These could include suitable labor-saving technologies, financial innovations, mechanisms for collective action, and an improved access for women to extension services.
Keywords: Women, Gender, Agriculture, Value Chains, Productivity, Inequality
JEL Classification: J16, Q00, Q13, Q15, Q16
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation