Rural women are the key agents in achieving environmental and social changes required for poverty reduction and sustainable development Bayeh (2016).
economics
Description
Chapter one
1.1 introduction/ background
Rural women are the key agents in achieving environmental and social changes required for poverty reduction and sustainable development Bayeh (2016). Women’s play an important role as food producers and agricultural entrepreneurs (Diouf (2012). They are also involved in other household and non‐farm income generating activities, such as vending trading, brick making as well as sewing, Women usually invest a higher proportion of their earnings in their families and communities than men, thus empowering women is critical for eradicating poverty and accelerating global development and has a positive impact on growth and progress of their families and communities Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD) (2012). However, female farmers are represented among the poor in most rural areas Tibesigwa (2016) the main reason why these farmers dominate the poor is that they engage in low paying income activities without adequate resources or formal training.
agriculture remains the largest employment sector in Africa with about 57% of Africa's labour force, and the main source of income in most rural areas, African Development Report (2015). The majority of Africa's poor resides in rural areas depends on agriculture as a source of livelihood IFPRI (2014). Although productivity in this sector is largely undermined by its low mechanization, allocation of resources between men and women has left the continent with less than the desired level of productivity Asongu (2018).
Female farmers have relatively high overall labour-force participation rates and the highest average agricultural labour-force participation rates in the world Achampong (2012) they perform about 90% of the work of processing food crops and food storage and transportation from farm to village, and 60% of the work from harvesting and marketing of farm produce.
Most female farmers are food producers working on joint family farms and they use their own land for household food production Shafiwu et al (2013) They are involved in both livestock and crop production at subsistence and commercial levels, they produce food and cash crops and manage mixed agricultural operations. Female farmers are often engaged in trading of grain and vegetable while most of the male farmers are involved in livestock trading- like cattle, goats etc. Mume et al (2014).
Collins et al., (2015) argue that Lower levels of education and limited access to markets have also contributed to the low productivity among female farmers, In most developing countries, statutory and customary laws continue to restrict women’s access to land and other assets Barrett (2014). Other studies have found that financial and resource constraints as well as lower levels of access to information and extension services can prevent the engagement in agricultural activities Jost et al., (2015). World Bank (2012) opines that Lower levels of income in developing countries, as well as increased on part-time, informal and insecure employment mean that they are less able to invest in resources and inputs for their productive activities and become less attractive to financial institutions.
