The Hidden Roots of the African Food Problem: Looking Within the Rural Household

Koopman, Jeanne

doi:10.1007/978-1-349-13188-4_4

Cited by 10 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…Rural households in Sub-Saharan Africa are often characterised by a complex gendered division of labour, whereby women combine their reproductive role in subsistence agriculture, with their productive role in selling any surplus in markets and producing cash crops, working as unpaid family labourers on male relatives' fields (Koopman, 1997). Gender and development analysts have challenged classical economic models of the 'unitary household' and revealed that rather than being characterised by altruism and harmony, intrahousehold relations and decision-making processes are characterised by unequal power relations and often conflicting interests (Sen, 1987;Kandioti, 1997).…”

Section: Gendered Division Of Labour and Land Access In Sub-saharan Amentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Gendered patterns of expenditure and resource allocations often accompany the gendered division of labour in agricultural households in Ghana and other African countries, which has a significant impact on the health, education and wellbeing of household members (Shah, 1998;Koopman 1997;Carr, 2008a). It is thus important to understand how access to, and control of, intra-household resources are influenced by gendered and generational relations.…”

Section: Intra-household Resource Allocations and Decision-making Promentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While literature on large-scale land acquisitions has burgeoned recently (Li, 2014;Doss et al 2014), few studies have investigated less visible, everyday struggles over family farms. An extensive literature documents the gendered division of labour in rural Sub-Saharan Africa (Koopman, 1997) and recent research and policy has revealed the significance of young people's labour on family farms in the global South (Kielland and Tovo, 2006;ILO, 2013). Few studies, however, integrate analysis of gender and generational relations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Struggles over family land? Tree crops, land and labour in Ghana’s Brong-Ahafo region

2015

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Agricultural land use in much of Brong-Ahafo region, Ghana has been shifting from the production of food crops towards increased cashew nut cultivation in recent years. This article explores everyday, less visible, gendered and generational struggles over family farms in West Africa, based on qualitative, participatory research in a rural community that is becoming increasingly integrated into the global capitalist system. As a tree crop, cashew was regarded as an individual man's property to be passed on to his wife and children rather than to extended family members, which differed from the communal land tenure arrangements governing food crop cultivation. The tendency for land, cash crops and income to be controlled by men, despite women's and young people's significant labour contributions to family farms, and for women to rely on food crop production for their main source of income and for household food security, means that women and girls are more likely to lose out when cashew plantations are expanded to the detriment of land for food crops. Intergenerational tensions emerged when young people felt that their parents and elders were neglecting their views and concerns. The research provides important insights into gendered and generational power relations regarding land access, property rights and intra-household decision-making processes. Greater dialogue between genders and generations may help to tackle unequal power relations and lead to shared decision-making processes that build the resilience of rural communities.

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Section: Gendered Division Of Labour and Land Access In Sub-saharan Amentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Intra-household Resource Allocations and Decision-making Promentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Struggles over family land? Tree crops, land and labour in Ghana’s Brong-Ahafo region

2015

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“…In the report by Doss (1999) it was stated that in many countries in Africa there is a rigid division of labour by gender in agriculture with men being responsible for food production, whereas women specialise in food processing (Koopman 1997). This division may be based on types of activities performed on the farm or type of crops grown by men and women.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Analysis of the impact of production technology and gender on under-utilised indigenous vegetables production in south-western Nigeria

Alao

Adebooye

Deji

et al. 2014

African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Developm

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We quantified the impact of new production technologies on total land area allocated to production of six (ugu, igbagba, tete atetedaye, woorowo, ogunmo and odu) selected high-premium under-utilised indigenous vegetables (UIVs) in south-western Nigeria. Leaf yields and accruable returns were estimated by comparing the data for these parameters at the commencement of the project in 2011 (through a baseline survey) with the same set of parameters after three years (in 2013) of project implementation. Through a structured interview and focus group discussion involving 134 randomly selected respondents (59 women and 75 men) from the 350 UIVs cooperative members in the rainforest and derived savanna agroecologies in four states (Oyo, Ondo, Osun and Ekiti) of south-western Nigeria, we studied the gender gap between male and female farmers with respect to access to productive farm resources. The data obtained were analysed using appropriate descriptive and inferential statistics. On average across south-western Nigeria in 2013, areas of 7.67, 7.0, 5.6, 1.9, 2.83 and 0.72 ha were planted to ugu, igbagba, tete atetedaye, woorowo, ogunmo and odu, respectively, compared to areas in 2011 of 0.3, 0.2, 0.6, 0, 0.32 and 0 ha, respectively. Yield analyses showed that the productivity of ugu, igbagba, tete atetedaye, woorowo, ogunmo and odu increased by 62%, 67%, 60%, 100%, 64% and 100%, respectively, as a result of the seeding rate technology applied between 2011 and 2013. More than 80% of the male and female respondents were aged between 31 and 60 years and possessed mean UIV farming experience of 18.7 years (males) and 13.4 years (females). The average farm area was 3.4 ha for men and 2.8 ha for women. The difficulty in accessing agrochemicals, modern technologies and marketing outlets was skewed towards females. We identified inadequate finance, lack of storage facilities, marketing outlets, multiple household responsibilities, lack of technology, lack of inputs and gender inequality as some of the problems associated with UIV production as perceived by both male and female respondents. Age (r = 0.290) and farming experience (r = 0.216) of female UIVs farmers, and age (r = 0.300), farming experience (r = 0.226), education (r = 0.363) and income (r = 0.224) of male UIV farmers were positively correlated with access to production resources (p ≤ 0.01). In conclusion, there is a need to drop policies that are less favourable to rural women and to focus on the appreciation of their role as producers of wealth, and additionally to strengthen the network of public services in rural areas, including education and welfare services.

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“…According to this study, if the singe parent is male, there is less distribution of additional income than when the household head is female. Another study from Africa echoes this conclusion: Keopman (1997) illustrates that in most situations in rural Africa, household incomes are not generally pooled. Rather, women tend to be responsible for food, while men are generally responsible for housing for the family (Haddad et.…”

Section: Approaches To Food Securitymentioning

confidence: 96%

Leximin

Mahieu¹,

Ballet²

2013

Dictionnaire Critique De La RSE

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The Hidden Roots of the African Food Problem: Looking Within the Rural Household

Cited by 10 publications

References 4 publications

Struggles over family land? Tree crops, land and labour in Ghana’s Brong-Ahafo region

Struggles over family land? Tree crops, land and labour in Ghana’s Brong-Ahafo region

Analysis of the impact of production technology and gender on under-utilised indigenous vegetables production in south-western Nigeria

Leximin

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