Addressing Gender Gaps In Agricultural Productivity In Africa: Comparative Case Studies From Tanzania, Malawi And Uganda+

Abstract

This article examines why, in most African countries, women farmers achieve
lower productivity in agriculture than men. It contributes to this debate by
interrogating whether or not addressing gender gaps in agricultural production
significantly contributes to socio-economic well-being (resilience) of women
as well as the gross domestic product (GDP). The Living Standards
Measurement Studies-Integrated Survey for Agriculture projects was adopted
to produce estimates for three countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (Malawi,
Tanzania and Uganda). The article draws from a research report and
collaborative study by UN Women with UNEP and World Bank. The result
shows that although female farmers individually manage slightly more than
25 per cent of all plots in Malawi and Uganda and about 20 per cent of all
plots in Tanzania, Malawi shows the largest difference in mean productivity
where women’s plots are, on average, 28 per cent less productive than men’s while Tanzania and Uganda reported 16 per cent and 13 per cent gender
gaps, respectively. This result implies that the importance of other productive
resources other than access to land may be key – for instance, the need to
tackle constraints related to women’s access to “household male labour” and
policies that help women farmers to access labour-saving technologies.