Increasing women's participation in and benefits from agroforestry in Africa

Abstract

Gender inequalities in areas such as education, ownership and access to resources, land tenure, extension, and health have contributed to sub-optimal agricultural productivity and high poverty levels in sub-Saharan Africa. There is also considerable evidence that men usually have the overall authority over agroforestry products that are considered to have high financial returns. Even though women work hard on their farms, they face great difficulty in obtaining male labour needed for tasks such as land preparation and tree pruning. Without adequate labour for managing their farms or appropriate female-friendly farming and processing technologies, women often remain in the downward spiral of poor farm yields and poverty. Several policy recommendations to improving women's benefits from agroforestry are highlighted. If addressed, women farmers could increase their productivity substantially. This increase in productivity has the potential of increasing women's income as well as reducing the number of hungry people worldwide