Women have been marginalized and given less recognition in the African continent in general. Significant areas of influence in life have seen reduced participation of women. The agriculture sector is no exception to the non-recognition of women’s participation. In Sub Sahara Africa it has been statistically estimated that more than 60 per cent of employed women are found in agricultural production. With about 60 to 80 per cent of work of agriculture being executed by women, it can be concluded that women are the leading and key players in agricultural production in Africa. Yet, they are mentioned less when considering the successes of agriculture in Africa. Women in Sub-Sahara Africa are seen to reap a negligible or scanty harvest. Credit for this shortcoming can be given to unfavourable weather and soil conditions but it is not so. Gender inequality once again is the cause of this problem.
The significant gender disadvantage against women is a result of the murky chain of policies, programs, laws, and traditions. Gaps have been seen in three sensitive areas concerning women in agriculture and they are the right to land ownership, equal access to input, and decision-making power.
Concerning the right to land ownership, women are hardly given ownership of lands in Africa. Access to land is usually through male relatives like fathers, brothers, and husbands. Women are at risk of losing their work on the land in instances of death, divorce, or change of plans by their male relatives. This thus affects the long-term productivity because the improvement of soil and even consistent work on a farm, in the long run, will be claimed and credited to the male owner after quality yield.
Land right ownership is gradually experiencing a positive turnaround, especially for women as countries have introduced measures to promote and protect the right to land ownership by women. Gradual ownership of lands by women is bringing to light the tremendous investment being made by women on lands to increase agricultural yield. Certainly, among highly educated women, investments are estimated to be higher. This calls for the need for legal literacy programs for women in agriculture. Ethiopia’s advancement to introduce joint land registration including the names and photographs of both couples on the land ownership certificate has been very positive. Formalizing the women’s ownership of land has indeed yielded increased investments from the earlier marginalized gender.
The second area which has been a problem in making the work of women in agriculture significant is equal access to capital. Capital inputs include excellent seeds, sophisticated equipment fertilizers, and information services concerning advanced agricultural practices. Ultimately, there is unequal access to the credit farmers need to purchase inputs. Research has revealed that women are at a disadvantage in benefiting from financial services in countries like Kenya, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Malawi.
To mitigate unequal access to capital inputs against women in agriculture, there is the need to improve access to financial services and inputs. By this, women farmers will be empowered. NGOs and development agencies are gradually evolving to tailor-make financial services and programs to advance women’s access to agricultural capital inputs. Certainly, this explains the reason for the sprout of more women agricultural organization groups and alliances which sees women-led institutions as making the woman significant in agriculture a reality. Easy access to information, improvement, and availability to technological advancement, and financial support is being presented to the doorsteps of women farmers.
Decision-making power is about the authority women have to manage the crops they produce, as well as the returns generated from that. It has been proven as a major phenomenon in diverse contexts where women have inadequate authority in management. It has been revealed that poverty reduction is 2-4 times more effective because of agriculture. The Goalkeepers results published in 2019 exposed the likelihood of women investing resources more than men if they have the authority to meet their children’s need which is food and education. The road to creating gender equality and eliminating poverty can be likened to killing two birds with a stone should women have this management authority. Governments, individuals, NGOs, and many organizations that have women in agriculture at heart can put in place policies to increase the decision-making power of women.
Steps taken by the International Food Policy Research Institute to design the Women in Agricultural Empowerment Index are in the right direction. The key indicators include the three areas mentioned in this literature. Governments, NGOs, and other organizations can use this index to create intervention policies since it spans 54 countries. Indeed, everyone benefits when the African woman blossoms. Right investments and policies will make this benefit a reality.
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