Women in sub-Saharan Africa often not rewarded for their work

In sub-Saharan Africa, women contribute 60–80% of the labour involved in producing food for household consumption and for sale.

In sub-Saharan Africa, women contribute 60–80% of the labour involved in producing food for household consumption and for sale. They also play a major role in promoting agroforestry practices. Yet a review by the World Agroforestry Centre reveals that men often receive greater benefits from the endeavours of women than the women themselves.

The review, based on 104 studies, found that women's participation in harvesting and processing indigenous fruits and vegetables is much higher than that of men. However, the latter dominate the wholesale trade and take the larger share of the profits.

Women in female-headed households are as actively involved as men in the production of fodder shrubs and woodlots, and in the use of agroforestry techniques that improve soil fertility. However, the area of fodder shrubs and the number of trees grown by female-headed households is approximately half that grown by maleheaded households. This is due, in part, to women's lack of resources, particularly land and labour, and perhaps also their greater aversion to risk.

Women in male-headed households tend to do most of the work, such as planting, weeding and watering,
especially during the early stages of tree establishment.

"However, when it comes to harvesting, women's rights are confined to collecting by-products such as twigs, whereas men have the rights to timber, large branches and poles," says Evelyne Kiptot, co-author of an Occasional Paper on Gender and Agroforestry in Africa: Are Women Participating?

A variety of social, cultural and economic factors put women at a disadvantage. "In most parts of Africa, men own the land and the tree crops grown on the land, even if women have planted and managed them," says Kiptot. Women also have less access to credit than men and benefit less from agricultural extension services.

Kiptop E and Franzel S. 2011. Gender and agroforestry in Africa: are women participating? Occasional Paper No.13. Nairobi: World Agroforestry Centre.
Kiptot E and Franzel S (in press). Gender and agroforestry in Africa: a review of women's participation.
Agroforestry Systems.