Gender, aging and power in sub-Saharan Africa: Challenges and puzzles

Abstract

By 2020, the absolute numbers of elderly in Africa will increase dramatically. A majority of these will be women. While we know much about the powers and authority of male elders within formal kin- and age-based structures, we know little about the lived experience of aging in Africa today, and even less about the formal and informal roles of elderly women. These ethnographic descriptions of gendered aging experiences in seven African societies examine the following little explored topics: indigenous conceptions of gender and aging; the ambiguities in women's social positions; changing family, household and marital relationships, which affect experiences of old age; older persons' access to and control over material, human and suprahuman resources; and the interplay of indigenous and modern forces. They point to future research challenges that will include understanding indigenous notions of gender and aging, and power and personhood, as they relate to personal experiences and to the ability of older women and men to assure their security in contexts of rapid social change.

How Does Gender Affect Sustainable Intensification of Cereal Production in the West African Sahel? Evidence from Burkina Faso

“…Among the socio-demographic characteristics, age of the plot manager positively influences the probability of adopting the soil-restoring strategy set for both males and females. In this society, where elderly people are highly regarded ( West, 2009 ), the status of older women within the household nearly approach that of men ( Udvardy & Cattell, 1992 ). Both older male and female plot managers can use their authority to gain access to the household resources needed to adopt the soil-restoring strategy set.…”

“…Since, in addition to age, marital status is highly valued in this society, younger unmarried males and females have a lower social status along with widows ( Van de Walle, 2013 , West, 2009 ). Moreover, married men can more easily adopt labor-intensive intensification strategies, such as the soil-restoring set, because they have greater rights over their wives’ labor allocation than married women have over the labor of their husbands or sons ( Becker, 1990 , Udvardy and Cattell, 1992 , Van de Walle, 2013 ).…”

‘Too old to test?’: A life course approach to HIV-related risk and self-testing among midlife-older adults in Malawi

“…This belief starkly contrasts with current epidemiological data (3,31), but re ects cultural expectations of midlife and older Malawians, as well as gendered views of HIV, and early experiences and messages dating back to when HIV was rst recognized in African societies (44) at which time HIV services and messages focused on reaching women and young people because of elevated risk. Such focus may have inadvertently reinforced views of low risk perception among older age groups, especially men, and undermined messages on the importance of testing and HIV prevention more broadly.…”

Local institutions and smallholder women’s access to land resources in semi-arid Kenya

“…Un-married daughters and divorcées have comparatively fewer mechanisms of access to land resources. Building on previous research examining women's empowerment in agriculture and rural livelihood outcomes at the household and community level (Doss et al, 2015;Kevane, 2012;Meinzen-Dick et al, 1997;Palacios-Lopez et al, 2017;Quisumbing and Maluccio, 2003;Udvardy and Cattell, 1992), this paper explores the perceptions of rural Kamba women and men towards Kenya's constitutional clause on land succession and the common challenges that Kamba women face to access land resources in Kambaland. The institutional analysis based on the social relations approach demonstrated how a gender-aware but gender-neutral constitutional clause in land succession presents a major step, however one of many, toward addressing gender inequality in Kenya's land tenure system.…”