Women's economic activities have therefore been highly affected by globalization. In Malawi, whereas before rice was produced in Malawi and sold in most Southern African countries, rice is now brought in from Asia and sold at much cheaper prices than the locally produced one. The production of the local one is therefore forced to stop. Women are very concerned about the impact of economic structural adjustment programmes on their human rights. It is not just a question of economics, it is the whole issue of human dignity.
Dignity is inherent in the fact of being a human being.
With this, we have also witnessed tremendous changes in the global economy and in the political climate that contextualises it. Before the advancement of free economic activity on the national, regional and global levels, most of the African economies were heavily regulated by the state. Under this system, they introduced such import and export restrictive business practices as import and export licencing, increased import duties, taxes or levies on import transactions, allocation of foreign exchange to essential goods, import and export quotas and other prohibitions. This forced the creation of local and locally manufactured goods produced from local materials. Self-reliance was encouraged.