Approximately 80% of women live in the communal areas where they constitute 61% of the farmers and provide 70% of the labour. Thus, the work of women farmers is essential for food security. Most women are unpaid family workers. Rural women work 16 to 18 hours a day, spending at least 49% of their time on agricultural activities and about 25% on domestic activities.
Division of Labour by Gender. While both men and women participate in most agricultural tasks, men predominate in land preparation, ploughing and pest control, while women are primarily engaged in watering, planting, fertilizing, weeding, harvesting, and marketing. Women carry out the majority of firewood gathering and almost all the water fetching, food processing and preparation' cooking and domestic work.
Gender Relations in Decision-making in Farming Activities. According to a 1993 household survey of the Department of Agricultural Technical and Extension Service (AGRITEX), in male-headed households, men dominate decision-making. In female-headed households (60% of households in the communal areas), women are responsible for farm management decisions. In households where the husband is absent, men still make a large proportion of the decisions regarding sale of crops and use of money. However, the majority of women make decisions on how to spend the income generated from their own activities such as market gardening, crafts, poultry keeping, etc.
