possibilities make its purchase an option that few women can take advantage of (Feldman, 1982). Studies from diverse areas of the country show no more than 5 percent of women owning land (World Bank, 1989). In most cases, women's fields are small ar.d scattered. An increasing number of women are landless or nearlandless (accessible land is barely economically viable) (ILO, 1986). One study found that almost all women respondents had between 3 and 15 discrete, small parcels implying that excessive time may be required to simply get to the numerous and scattered parcels (Pala, 1978 cited in IID, 1986). Fragmentation of land causes substantial inefficiency in production (Herz, 1974). Current land reform efforts may be eroding women's access even further s.nce they emphasize "the structural points of allocation and inheritance of land at the expense of use rights..." (ILO, 1986). Land adjudication and registration measures are emphasizing private ownership (mainly for men) and no longer guaranteeing automatic rights of access to women on the basis of lineage (Feldman, 1982). This situation is of growing concern since it impinges directly on women in their roles as farmers and providers of food for the family.

# b. Women's contributiun to smallholder agriculture

Smallholder agricultural production is increasingly being undertaken by women. It is estimated that 96 percent of rural women work on the family farm; women provide three-fourths of the labor on smallholdings and actually manage about two-fifths of these smallholdings (World Bank, 1989). Although historically women tended to focus on food crops and men on cash crops, as a result of increasing male migration out of rural areas, women are now shouldering more of the responsibility for a wide variety of farm (crop and livestock) tasks while continuing to maintain responsibility for their traditional tasks (World Bank, 1989). Rural women are estimated to spend one-third of their working time in the fields (ILO, 1986).

A higher proportion of women than men are engaged in most phases of the production cycle on food as well as cash crops and livestock, in addition to their work in food preparation, childcare, gathering water and firewood, and in varied income-earning activities. Data show that in all provinces, women are engaged on a more regular basis than men in all farm activities. The distribution of labor for maize by type of activity shows that 87 percent of women work regularly in planting, weeding and harvesting as compared to 54 percent of men. In addition, over half the women are involved in marketing of the maize crop. Although the proportions of both women and men involved in cash crop cultivation is small, women work more regularly than men on coffee, tea, pyrethrum and cotton production (GOK and UNICEF, 1984). With respect to livestock, women work more regularly with poultry, milking cattle and grazing sheep and goats (ILO, 1986; World Bank, 1989).

Women are underrepresented in estate export agriculture reflecting higher entry barriers or less capacity to overcome barriers. A 1982 survey shows that men's labor accounted for 76 percent of the labor used on estate export crops - compared to 24 percent of women's labor. Some of the export crops in question - tea, coffee, cocoa and rubber -- have long gestation periods and substantial investment requirements which may inhibit women's participation (Collier, 1989).

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