A wide variety of literature is available on the importance of agriculture to economic development in Africa and on the critical role that rural women play within this sector. Increasing attention is also being given to the role of smallholder subsistence agriculture in ensuring the food security of the continent, as 73% of the rural population consists of smallholder farmers (IFAD, 1993:6). In Sub-Saharan Africa, agriculture accounts for approximately 21% of the continent's GDP and women contribute 60-80% of the labour used to produce food both for household consumption and for sale.
The importance of agriculture to the national economies in Africa and as a source of employment, emerged from the data provided in the sectoral reports, as shown in Table 1.
Table 1: Importance of Agriculture to the National Economies.
Country |
Contribution of Agriculture to GDP |
Population employed/involved in agriculture (percent) |
Benin |
40 |
70 |
Burkina Faso |
45 |
- 85 |
Congo |
8 |
52 |
Mauritania |
22 |
|
Morocco |
15-20 |
40 |
Namibia |
11 |
79 |
Sudan |
40 |
80 |
Tanzania |
50 |
85 |
Zimbabwe |
11 |
71a |
a The definition of the population employed/involved in agriculture varied among the reports. While some countries cited official national figures of the economically active population, which in some cases excluded subsistence farmers, others gave estimates of the proportion 'involved' or 'dependent upon' agriculture which may include subsistence farmers.
UNDP, 1994,
The agricultural sector contributes from a low of 8% of GDP in the Congo to a high of 50 % in Tanzania, and employs from 40 % of the population in Morocco to 85 % in Burkina Faso and Tanzania. In other countries such as the Congo, Namibia and Zimbabwe, where the contribution of the agricultural sector to GDP is small, the sector still plays an extremely important role as a source of employment.
The important role of smallholder subsistence farmers in Africa, of which the majority are women, was highlighted in many countries. In Benin, 95 % of the agricultural economy is assured by small farmers using subsistence techniques. In Morocco, smallholder farmers account for 69% of all farmers (FAO, 1993:17). In Namibia, 90% of the population in communal farming areas (which covers approximately 41% of the country's land area and is composed of smallholder subsistence farmes) are directly dependent on subsistence agriculture for a living. In Tanzania, smallholders contribute approximately 80% of the value of marketed surplus and 75% of export earnings (IFAD, 1993:6). In Zimbabwe, the communal land sector (in which smallholder farming is practiced) occupies 42 % of all land and accounts for 80% of the female population.
Women's critical role in agricultural production, and especially in subsistence agriculture, as well as in livestock raising and food processing, was also emphasized in the reports and is shown in Table 2.
Table 2: Role of Women in Agriculture
Benin |
70% of the female population live in rural areas, where they carry out 60-80% of the agricultural work and furnish up to 44% of the work necessary for household subsistence. |
Burkina Faso |
Women constitute 48% of the labourers in the agricultural sector. |
Congo |
Women account for 73% of those economically active in agriculture and produce more than 80% of the food crops. |
Mauritania |
Despite data gaps, it is estimated that women cover 45% of the needs in rural areas (further details not specified) |
Morocco |
Approximately 57% of the female population participates in agricultural activities, with greater involvement in animal (68%) as opposed to vegetable production (46%). Studies have indicated that the proportion of agricultural work carried out by men, women and children is 42%, 45% and 14% respectively. |
Namibia |
Data from the 1991 census reveals that women account for 59% of those engaged in skilled and subsistence agriculture work, a and that women continue to shoulder the primary responsibility for food production and preparation. |
Sudan |
In the traditional sector, women constitute 80% of the farmers. Women farmers represent approximately 49% of the farmers in the irrigated sector and 57% in the traditional sector. 30% of the food in the country is produced by women. |
Tanzania |
98% of the rural women defined as economically active are engaged in agriculture and produce a substantial share of the food crops for both household consumption and for export |
Zimbabwe |
Women constitute 61% of the farmers in the Communal areas and comprise at least 70% of the labour force in these areas. |
a It was noted that this estimate is considered low as the 1991 census included the subsistence farming sector for the first time.
Estimates of women's contribution to the production of food crops range from 30% in the Sudan to 80% in the Congo, while their proportion of the economically active labour force in agriculture ranges from 48% in Burkina Faso to 73% in the Congo and 80% in the traditional sector in Sudan.
The data provided for the nine countries supports a common trend throughout Africa - smallholder subsistence farmers, and especially women farmers, substantially contribute to national agricultural production and food security and women farmers are primarily responsible for food crops.
Given the critical importance of the agricultural sector to the national economies, and in view of the important productive role of women within this sector, economic development and food security are affected by the degree of commitment shown by governments to the agricultural sector and to rural women. As will be emphasized throughout the report, gender disaggregated statistics that accurately illustrate the nature and role of women's involvement in agriculture are indispensable in gaining this commitment and for the formulation of successful policies, programmes and projects in the agricultural sector.
The National Context
In Africa, several regional trends have had an impact on women's productive role in agriculture, forestry and fisheries, including: (1) structural adjustment policies adopted by many governments over the last ten years, in the face of global recession, decreased commodity prices and growing foreign debt; (2) population pressure and environmental degradation; (3) high rates of male rural-to-urban migration in search of income earning employment opportunities; and, (4) increased attention to the importance of women in national agricultural plans and policies.
(1) The impact of structural adjustment programmes on rural women. Increasing attention has been paid to the impact of structural adjustment policies on rural women in Africa and empirical evidence is emerging which indicates that the impact has largely been negative. In the sectoral reports in which explicit attention was paid to economic reforms and structural adjustment policies (Burkina Faso, Congo, Morocco, Tanzania, Zimbabwe), the negative impacts on rural women were emphasized.
Under structural adjustment programmes, large scale farming and commercial crop production are promoted, based on the assumption that productivity improvements are easier to obtain in the export as opposed to subsistence or locally-traded crops sector, and that the increase in income stemming from export production will ensure national food security (Joekes, 1991). As a consequence, resources (land, labour, and inputs, including research) have been reallocated from subsistence production to the production of export crops. The implications of this shift are many, especially for women who are concentrated in the subsistence sector and whose ability to move into export crops is limited by various constraints, including: (a) time (double burden of productive and reproductive tasks); (b) systemic (low access to credit, technological packages and marketing information); and, (c) socio-cultural (traditional responsibility for feeding and care of the household). Women's already limited access to resources is further constrained given the low priority afforded to the subsistence farming sector. Rising prices for basic food products, commodities and agricultural often encourages women to remain at the subsistence level to cover more of the households food needs.
At the same time, reduced government involvement in such areas as marketing and pricing for subsistence agriculture leaves farmers responsible for areas in which they have no previous experience or training. For example, in Zimbabwe, the parastatal marketing boards no longer enjoy Government financial support and subsidies have been removed. Thus marketing facilities, collection depots and assured producer controlled prices are no longer in place and women now have to develop marketing skills, source their own markets and meet all costs. 3
(3 A similar phenomenon occurred in the Congo and Benin, with the disengagement of the State from production and marketing activities in the late 1980s.)
In addition, structural adjustment policies generally involve reduced government expenditures on social services such as education, health and rural infrastructure (water and energy supplies) which means further demands are made on women's time and energy to make up for shortfalls in these areas.
(2) Population pressure and environmental degradation. A second trend with implications for rural women is the high population growth experienced in Africa, coupled with unequal allocation of resources and inheritance laws which result in land parcelling and contribute to environmental degradation as the growing pressure on the land pushes farmers (and especially rural women) to overexploit wood, water and other resources in order to meet household requirements. Such over exploitation may result in serious and irreversible environmental degradation including deforestation, long-term erosion, decreased soil fertility, and desertification, which limits the development of agriculture in most areas of sub-Saharan Africa. In Burkina Faso, Sudan, Morocco, Tanzania and Benin, the rural population faces increased incidence of soil degradation and/or desertification.
In Zimbabwe and Namibia, environmental degradation (deforestation, water deficiencies, soil erosion and loss of biodiversity) has been hastened by the policies introduced under colonial and white rule which allocated the poorest land to black farmers. As the population pressure on the fragile land base increases, land units per household have decreased and, to compensate, unsuitable land is cleared for agriculture, causing soil erosion, decreased fertility and productivity. Wetlands have also been lost, resulting in food and water shortages during periods of droughts, when these areas would have previously served as a source of water.
The implications of environmental damage in rural areas is particularly serious for women who are generally found on the most marginal land and have the primary responsibility for providing household subsistence. These women rarely have alternative income-generating employment opportunities. In Zimbabwe, for example, the highest percentage of women farmers is found in the semi-arid lands with marginal agricultural potential. Surveys suggest that the percentage of women with their own land allotment, as opposed to those providing agricultural labour on a male relative's land, increases as the agricultural potential of the land decreases.
(3) Male rural-to-urban migration. Pressure on the countryside from the rapidly growing population and low returns from agriculture have contributed to an Africa-wide phenomenon of growing male rural-to-urban denigration. While such migration can increase remittances to rural areas and strengthen market linkages between urban and rural areas, it leaves rural women increasingly responsible for farming and for meeting their households' immediate needs. In Burkina Faso, Morocco, Mauritania, the Congo and Zimbabwe, women have taken over the tasks formerly carried out by men in addition to those for which they are traditionally responsible. In the Congo and Sudan, the number of women headed-households has increased dramatically. In other countries such as Namibia and Zimbabwe, male migration, coupled with the almost complete female domination of the traditional farming sector, is a legacy of colonialism which encouraged rural men to provide cheap labour for mines, large white-run commercial farms, fishing enterprises and urban businesses.
(4) Recognition of women's role in agriculture. More encouragingly, throughout Africa many countries have introduced new legislation and programmes to assist small farmers in the traditional sector and pay special attention to women's needs. In Burkina Faso, a national action plan has been prepared to increase women's access to agricultural services, to end discrimination in land allocation, and to create a fund for women's income generating activities. In the Sudan, the ten year strategy targeting the agricultural sector emphasizes food production and food security and explicitly recognizes the critical role of women within this sector. In addition, the Three Year Women in Development Programme, 1993-96 aims to establish legislation and institutions that will increase women's access to productive resources including land, irrigation, credit, technology, extension services and training. Zimbabwe has implemented similar programmes designed to address women's and farmer's needs, especially in terms of lessening the negative effects of the policy reform programme and drought, and addressing environmental and land tenure concerns.
