Emerging Gender Roles in the Ghanaian Society and its Implications for District Development Planning: a Case Study of the Bosomtwi-Atwima Kwanwom District

Gender issues have received much attention since 1970. Many conferences and gender development policies have evolved and been implemented as a result of this awareness. Even though there has been some form of improvement in the status of women, they still lag behind their male counterparts especially in the formal sectors of society. Most development interventions have tended to focus on the traditional roles of women with little attention paid to their changing roles in society. Districts have not been able to evolve a gender based development programs due to lack of gender disaggregated data. Women’s participation in development activities has not been encouraging because development programs have paid less attention to women’s time budget. On the basis of this the Bosomtwe Atwima Kwanwoma District was chosen for an empirical study. The study was based on the premise that the roles of men and women in society are undergoing changes as a result of implementation of development policies. These changing roles have implications for development planning but their incorporation has received less attention because of some inhibiting factors. For a better insight to be gained into these issues, the study set out to investigate into the emerging gender roles and causes, factors hindering effective incorporation of gender issues into district development planning and appropriate ways of incorporating gender issues into district development planning. Using quantitative and qualitative means of data collection and analysis, this study has demonstrated that gender is a social construct that changes when changes occur in society. These societal changes could be economic, social and political. These changes have been identified to have implications for district development planning in terms of the provision of social and economic infrastructure, development governance and sustainable development among others. It also revealed that most women are moving into the economic sectors of the economy as a result of economic hardships. Women representations in the economic sector continue to be concentrated in the informal sector because of lack of education. In the district, women’s reproductive roles have been identified and utilized as a potential for development. These have been as a result of implementation of development policies like decentralization, policies on primary health care and community water resource management which place much emphasis on the importance of women’s local knowledge in these spheres and therefore make a conscious effort for their participation. Unfortunately, the incorporation of gender issues into the development planning process to reflect these changing gender roles in the district has been ineffective because of the lack of adequate and gender desegregated data for planning purposes. In addition, there is inadequate knowledge and expertise on the part of development actors in the district to plan and manage gender development. There is also the lack of clear-cut policy for gender development in the district. On the base of these findings, it is proposed that support is provided for women, especially those engaged in trade and agriculture. In addition, gender disaggregated data should be collected, collated and analyzed at all levels before decisions on development are made. Further more it is proposed that sector department’s activities at both the national and district levels must be coordinated and harmonized so as to make it convenient for women to participate. Development decision-makers at the district level especially must be trained in gender planning. it is hoped that policy makers and development actors will appreciate the identified changing roles of women in society and incorporate these issues in development policies and implementation. In this way, the status of women in particular and the family in general will improve.

Source: KNUST