page_title: Women and agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa
section_title: Women’s role in agriculture
hierarchical_section_title: Women and agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa / Women’s role in agriculture
caption_attribution_description: Pic by Neil Palmer (CIAT). A farmer at work in Kenya's Mount Kenya region.
context_page_description: Women and agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa refers to the agricultural system in Sub-Saharan Africa that is predominantly small-scale farming system with more than 50% of the agricultural activity performed by women, producing about 60-70% of the food in this region. While women provide the majority of the labor in agricultural production, their access and control over productive resources is greatly constrained due to inequalities constructed by patriarchal norms.
context_section_description: Women play a critical role in food security in this region by fulfilling their role as food providers. There are 3 basic variants of household food production systems in Sub-Saharan Africa: 1) Women are responsible for production of all or most food crops. In this variant, food plots are considered women's plot. 2) Men and women jointly cultivate staple food crops in fields controlled by male household heads. In this type, male household head controls the output. 3) Men are responsible for food production, while women specialize in food processing. This variant is mainly encountered where Islamic practices of female seclusion prevent women from engaging in fieldwork.
  In many countries in Africa, there is a rigid division of labor by gender in agriculture. This division may be based on types of activities performed on the farm or type of crops grown by men and women. The division of labor is based on patriarchal norms that typically require women to care for the needs of the members of the households while men are involved in bringing cash income to the household. Women are also expected to help fathers, husbands in their fields, which increase women's workload. Sometimes men will help women in clearing their plots to prepare the land.
  In regions where women and men work on separate plots growing different crops, women are usually engaged in subsistence farming to provide food to fulfill the needs of the members of household while men are engaged in production of cash or export crops. In the early 21st century, this pattern is prevalent in several Sub-Saharan African countries like Tanzania, Uganda, Cameroon, Burkina Faso etc. This distinction can be explained as a result of gender norms that assign women with the responsibility of feeding family and men with the responsibility of providing cash income.
  In Southeast Nigeria, for example, there exist distinctions between traditionally "male" and "female crops. "Female" crops are normally ephemeral household crops, and include cassava, beans, maize, plantains, and cocoyams.  "Male" crops, meanwhile, include food staples such as yams, which are also considered the "prestige" crop.
  Though women mainly grow food crops for household consumption, if there is any marketable surplus they sell it in the market. However, women's primary responsibility is to feed the family and only after that they can engage in other income earning activities. The distinction between crops is sometimes not very clear especially in the case of maize which is a staple crop in several Sub-Saharan African countries as well as a cash crop. With the introduction of high yielding varieties of maize, now the distinction is that the high yielding varieties tend to be men's crop and local varieties are women's crop. This pattern has been observed in Malawi where local varieties of maize are woman's crop while hybrid varieties are cash crops cultivated by men. The logic is the same: high yielding varieties provide large amount of marketable surplus which allows men to provide cash income while women continue with varieties that provide enough for subsistence consumption.
  Women's role is not limited to food production, they are also required to process and prepare the food they grow, perform care work in the household and also help men in their cash crop production.
  As for division of labor by tasks, traditionally, men cleared the forests, burned the bush, tended and harvested the fruits of tree crops such as the oil palm, fenced fields against wild animals, and in some regions planted crops. Women are responsible for weeding, post-harvest production, and food preparation. Women are also responsible for transporting and marketing the cash crops with male members of the household.  In a study for Kenya in the 1980s, it was reported that women were mainly responsible for hand digging, harvesting and transporting the crops while men were responsible for building the granary. However, gradually the distinction between men's and women's tasks is becoming quite blurred. There are very few tasks that are done exclusiv
caption: A Kenyan farmer at work in the Mount Kenya region.
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