Gender and Agriculture : Inefficiencies, Segregation, and Low Productivity Traps
Women make essential contributions to agriculture in developing countries, where they constitute approximately 43 percent of the agricultural labor force. However, female farmers typically have lower output per unit of land and are much less likely...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Policy Research Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2013
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2013/02/17371511/gender-agriculture-inefficiencies-segregation-low-productivity-traps http://hdl.handle.net/10986/13171 |
| Summary: | Women make essential contributions to
agriculture in developing countries, where they constitute
approximately 43 percent of the agricultural labor force.
However, female farmers typically have lower output per unit
of land and are much less likely to be active in commercial
farming than their male counterparts. These gender
differences in land productivity and participation between
male and female farmers are due to gender differences in
access to inputs, resources, and services. In this paper,
the authors review the evidence on productivity differences
and access to resources. They discuss some of the reasons
for these differences, such as differences in property
rights, education, control over resources (e.g., land),
access to inputs and services (e.g., fertilizer, extension,
and credit), and social norms. Although women are less
active in commercial farming and are largely excluded from
contract farming, they often provide the bulk of wage labor
in the nontraditional export sector. In general, gender gaps
do not appear to fall systematically with growth, and they
appear to rise with GDP per capita and with greater access
to resources and inputs. Active policies that support
women's access and participation, not just greater
overall access, are essential if these gaps are to be
closed. The gains in terms of greater productivity of land
and overall production are likely to be large. |
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