Policy highlights:
- Women make up almost 50% of the agricultural labour force in Sub-Saharan Africa. They work primarily in smallholder production, but they receive a significantly lower share of income than men working in the same sub-sector. Empowering women is essential for the further promotion of Africa’s economic transformation.
- To improve the position of women in agriculture, they should be given training and access to finance to help them develop their agribusiness enterprises along the value chain.
- Recommendations include: 1) helping women entrepreneurs create products that can be branded as coming from women-led value chains; 2) expanding women-inclusive cooperative programmes that increase productivity; 3)establishing market links through the private sector, including international buyers and large-scale industrial processors; 4) providing technical assistance and business skills training to women farmers; and 5) addressing structural issues (e.g. land tenure and gender-neutral agricultural policy) through advocacy and engagement with governments.
