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Gender roles in agriculture

Africa[edit]

Women in the agriculture sector take on a plethora of roles. They are engaged in production, processing, distribution and trade, often simultaneously, and at times can be involved in multiple aspects of agricultural value chains, especially women who are micro, small or medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) owners engaged in agriculture (agripreneurs).

Gender gaps are apparent within all points of agricultural value chains, affecting how women can engage in formal trade and will operate in the new open market established by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Structural constraints and deep-rooted gender inequalities, such as those in land access, continue to hinder the progress women make in agriculture and subsequently trade. In addition, traditional gender roles, often constraining women as unpaid caregivers and homemakers, shapes their lack of access to capital and places barriers to free movement and control over assets and income within households. Such challenges become compounded for women farmers, processors, traders, and MSME owners as they engage in the economic opportunities created by the AfCFTA market.

In a lot of African countries nowadays, women rights are secondary in the sense that males dominant in assets, ownership, and education. Women are usually in charge of light farming or crop processing, while males have more opportunities to work with livestock and stay out of their household duty. But it also vary with ethnic groups, age and production cycles. Women are also responsible for children care, their financial ability and educational level may post strong influences on children's well-being. Research showed that equine assisted rural women to finish their chores earlier, which provides females more time for children care. Moreover, by empowering women with assets and knowledge, the children's nutritional status may be improved.

Ghana[edit]

60 % farmers that conduct agricultural activities in Ghana are male, most agriculture activities that females engaged in are raising small livestock. More females are willing to work near home, such as doing business. Husbands will provide financial support to wives to buy food. The food cultivated constitutes the man's contribution to the family, the wife needs to make up for other deficiencies through her own efforts, so they are under pressure to get other income for their families. A woman who does not farm can't sell her husband's product, while the husband could sell agricultural products behind his wife's back. It is only when income contributes to household consumption that individual household incomes are added up. This is because families usually depend on one member for farming and the other for selling. To avoid disagreement in income, husbands and wives often work in different income streams. For example, women tend to grow perennial plants (such as pepper) that do not require a strong labor force, while men grow cash crops (such as watermelon, okra, and tomatoes). Compared to growing different kinds of crops, a clearer division of labor between the gender is women will do more marketing. Females sell their products directly to consumers or wholesalers.

Senegal[edit]

Although female family members, such as wives, daughters and nieces, were also involved in agriculture, three quarters of the time men were in charge. There are few women in the poultry and ornamental sectors. One example is the Fedri group in Dakar, 10 km away. Through this group, women are actively investing in urban agriculture. Nine women produce vegetables for sale in the domestic market (okra or tomatoes) or export (green beans) and feed small ruminants such as sheep and beef cattle. They even take care of woodlands and orchards. An ngo is currently funding the panel. Commercial women farmers and producers play different roles in the marketing and processing of agricultural products. Engaging in sales requires very little input and can be a good entry point into the field of agricultural production. Men are generally engaged in high-input, contract production and sales work. More than 90 percent of the retailers in Dakar's free market are women, and almost all of the retail and wholesale shopkeepers who sell a variety of foods, including onions, are men. Most women work as wholesalers as well as retailers of green leafy vegetables and tomatoes.

Tanzania[edit]

Traditionally, men and women share the responsibility of raising a family, but usually women have more responsibilities and obligations than men. Both men and women were involved in farming, but they did different things in different places, therefore, it is closely related to the type of agricultural production system. Female farmers are more numerous and engaged in small-scale production, males are the leaders in terms of production because they tend to be responsible for more land. "Female farming" is good for families because it allows the products to be used for consumption and the extra income to be used for other necessities. Men also contribute a portion of their income, but a relatively small share. In general, equality between men and women is more pronounced on farms outside the city, much like in rural families.

Zimbabwe[edit]

Local women have made great contributions to the development of urban agriculture. They not only invest in labor but also participate in management. On non-fixed land, women's farming accounts for 55% to 63%. Among them, 80% of people are engaged in farming activities on their “own land”. In high-income areas, many women hire other laborers. Of the men working in the fields, 24% are employed laborers, and 59% are helping their wives work. Women dominate the production and sales of urban agriculture. 68.8% of the sales of products are women. Children work for their mothers at almost every stage of production and sales. Like rural women, urban women are responsible for food issues. Compared with men, women spend more time and burden on urban agriculture. Especially when the economy is in recession, it is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain family livelihoods. As people become more optimistic about urban agriculture, it is not ruled out that men can replace women's dominant position in agricultural production.

Asia[edit]

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By Region[edit]

Near East and North Africa[edit]

The 2020 edition of FAO's Near East and North Africa − Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition, finds that nearly 55 million people in the Arab States – about 13.2 percent of the total population – are food insecure and the situation is particularly worrying in countries affected by conflicts and protracted crises. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic these numbers are expected to grow.

Gender inequalities in agriculture remain widespread in the region. Rural women and girls continue to face severe discriminations in access to, and ownership of assets, resources and agricultural support services, included those related to community nutrition services. Compared to men, women tend to own lower value assets and have less access to capital, labour, agriculture inputs and tools. In addition, most women’s work in farms in the region is unpaid, rendering it essentially invisible. Women also tend to have less entitlements and access to natural resources, such as land and water. For example, despite the significant role they play in managing it, women frequently face obstacles in accessing irrigation water for the cultivation of crops and for raising livestock. This is mainly due to insecurity of land tenure and to their marginal involvement in water governance institutions and user associations, where they are often under-represented and excluded from decision-making processes. Women also have less access to finance due to absence of collaterals for loans. Moreover, in many instances, women do not control the farm, livestock income due to cultural and or lack of access to banking services.

The same applies to other rural organizations and institutions within the rural and agricultural sectors, and this under-representation largely explains why women’s interests are often overlooked and agricultural support services rarely attuned to respond to their needs. This, in turn explains, why women tend to have less access to information, technology and trainings, and a lower uptake of nutrition-sensitive agricultural practices.

Increasing women’s productivity and reducing women’s work burden is not sufficient to improve food security and nutrition. According to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO), additional actions are required to ensure that women have decision-making power and ownership over productive assets and the use of income from agriculture and off-farm employment. Promoting women’s participation in decision-making processes at all levels is therefore a particularly important aspect of empowerment as it leads to wider social and economic changes. In order to do so and to achieve sustainable and transformative changes, FAO suggests addressing the prevailing and discriminatory gender norms that are hindering women and girls to reach their full potential, and thus impacting food security and nutritional outcomes for women, girls, boys and men.

Sources[edit]

This article incorporates text from a free content work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 License statement/permission. Text taken from NENA Regional Network on Nutrition-sensitive Food System: Empowering women and ensuring gender equality in agri-food systems to achieve better nutrition - Technical brief, FAO, FAO. To learn how to add open license text to Wikipedia articles, please see this how-to page. For information on reusing text from Wikipedia, please see the terms of use.