 |
| Women make up two-thirds of the workforce in agricultural production |
Article: Mary Ankrah
The World Bank’s annual World Development Report, 2008 on
Agriculture for Development has stated that “where women are the majority of
smallhold farmers, failure to realise their full potential in agriculture is a
contributory factor to low growth and food insecurity”.
In spite of the triple role women play as producers and
processors on the farm, as workers and as care-givers in the household and in
the extended families, they face greater barriers than men to increasing their
productivity and income.
It is acknowledged that women around the world are the
primary agents in providing for the wellbeing of their families and
communities.
According to the United Nations (UN) Food and Agriculture
Organisation (FAO) report of 1985, about 70 per cent of agricultural workers,
80 per cent of food producers, and 10 per cent of those who process basic
foodstuffs are women and they also undertake 60 to 90 of the rural marketing;
thus making up more than two-thirds of the workforce in agricultural
production.
The FAO has indicated that while the overall proportion of
the economically active population (EAP) working in agriculture declined during
the 1990s, the percentage of economically active women working in agriculture
at the global level remained nearly 50 per cent as of 2000, with an even higher
percentage in developing countries (61 per cent) and least developing countries
(LDCs) having 79 per cent.
Although FAO projections in 2010 indicate a continued
reduction in the overall female participation in agriculture globally, the
percentage of economically active women in agriculture in LDCs is projected to
remain above 70 per cent.
However, at the Second international Conference on Women in
Agriculture held in Washington, D.C. in 1998, a former Secretary of Agriculture
of the United States of America (USA), Dan Glickman, stated “One of the biggest
issue facing women farmers is the future of small farmers”, and that is
certainly still true today.
The Keynote speaker for that conference, Tipper Gore,
recognized that the important role of women in agriculture needed to be valued
because they contribute to the economics of their households, communities, and
the world. Unfortunately, little had change for female farmers around the world
or for their counterparts in Africa, especially Ghana.
It is acknowledge that women are the key to the development
of rural areas through their contributions to sustainable agriculture and rural
development, including food security, yet they are often marginalized in the
agricultural sector, and do not have ready access to funds or access to land
and other factors of production.
Most female farmers in Africa are smallholder farmers.
Besides being involved in weeding, transplanting and post-harvest activities,
they are involved in agricultural activities ranging from crop farming,
agro-processing to animal rearing. Indeed, diversity in agricultural enterprise
is a hallmark of women in agriculture.
But, it is sad to note that in Africa, especially Ghana, the
typical image of a woman farmer is a woman most often working with basic tools
with a baby strapped on her back. Meanwhile the enormous effort made by this
woman put food on the tables of many in Ghana and other parts of the world as
well.
Statistics show that women are the key actors of Ghanaian
farming, constituting over half of the agricultural labour force and producing
70 per cent of the country’s food. Women constitute 95 per cent of those
involved in agro-processing and 85 per cent of those in food distribution.
A report of the Food and Agriculture Development Policy
Phase II (FASDEP2), 2009 of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA),
indicated that agriculture is a critical sector for women. That, about half
(48.7 per cent) of the total female population is self-employed in agriculture,
with the majority being engaged in food production.
Despite efforts by MoFA to promote gender mainstreaming in
agriculture through the Gender and Agricultural Development Strategy (GADS)
developed in the late 1990s, implementation of the strategy has not been
effective since only one production of gender disaggregated data out of the
eight policy statements in the GADS of MoFA is operational.
At the staff level, the Women in Agriculture Development
(WIAD), which is tasked with promoting gender mainstreaming, agro-processing
and nutrition, is the only one out of 12 directorates of MoFA headed by a
woman, all the senior extension staff in Accra are males.
Also, there is no specific budget targeting women farmers
under the budget of MoFA, apart from the allocation to WIAD. Even so, WIAD
budget allocation in 2011 amounted to 0.4 per cent of MoFA’s budget, totaling
GHc867, 762.
At recent forum held by ActionAid Ghana in collaboration
with Green Earth Organisation, under the theme: “Smallholder Agriculture
sensitive Manifestoes and Party Pledges to Reduce Poverty”, some female farmers
who participated complained that gender inequality in the agricultural sector
has severely limited their ability to contribute meaningfully to sustainable
agricultural growth and development because programmes and projects are not
systematically formulated around the different needs, interest, roles,
responsibilities, status and influence in society of women and men.
They said inaccessibility to credit facilities and land,
poor road network, lack of equipment and irrigation facilities and lack of
storage facilities are some of the major challenges facing women farmers.
Speaking at the forum, the Treasure of the Farmer Base
Organisation (FBO)in the Upper west Region, Jirapa District, Ms Galyuoni
Clarissa indicated that despite the enormous efforts made by women in
agriculture, only two out of 100 female headed households get extension
services and one out of the eight policy statements in the gender and
agricultural development strategy of MoFA, was operational.
“If all those things are done, there would be sufficient
food available throughout the year; food would be less expensive, and we would
be able to provide raw materials for industries as a result sustain some income
for our household”, she added.
The government need to strengthen the implementation of the
Gender and Agriculture Strategy, including provision of secured land; extension
services and labour-saving agro-processing equipment; increase public spending
to recognise unpaid work of women smallholder farmers and involve them more in
decision-making.
On access to credit, the government need to develop
subsidized and innovative credit programmes for women farmers and provide
resources to support loan guarantee, insurance schemes and savings and credit
associations to make it easier for women farmers to obtain loans from banks to
increase their productivity.
More so, much of the scientific knowledge and technologies
does not reach rural women for various reasons. This needs rectification. Research
systems must also seek the inputs of women as they have historically been the
source of much traditional knowledge and innovations. Hence, the government
should empower women farmers with new knowledge and skills to bring them into
the mainstream of agricultural development and reduce gender disparity.
In doing all that, the benefits will span generations and
pay large dividends in the future, thus, it will attract many young women to go
into agriculture.
Certainly, if the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) on
gender equality (MDG3) and poverty and food security (MDG1) are mutually
reinforced, gender equality promoted and women empowered in agriculture, Ghana
will win sustainably the fight against poverty, especially among women in the
rural areas.
No comments:
Post a Comment