Gender and agroforestry in Africa: who benefits?

Abstract

This chapter examines women’s participation in agroforestry relative to men and the challenges and successes they experience. Women’s participation is hampered by socioeconomic, cultural, and policy issues that vary within and across locations. The degree of women’s involvement relative to men in practices such as soil fertility management and fodder production is fairly high in terms of proportion of female-headed households participating but is low as measured by the area they allocate to these activities and the number of trees they plant. The lesser involvement reflects women’s lack of resources, particularly labor, their heavy workload, and perhaps their greater aversion to risk. Women dominate the production and processing of indigenous fruits; however, they are confined to the lower end of the value chain (retailing), which limits their control over and returns from the production process. The recommendations arising from the review include (1) facilitating women to form and strengthen associations, (2) targeting women’s associations, (3) helping women to improve productivity and marketing of products considered to be in women’s domain, and (4) improving women’s access to information