Supporting female smallholders

Description

Smallholder women are pivotal in balancing rural food systems yet, they face several inequalities that make it difficult for them to sustainably intensify their operations. This chapter provides insights into how smallholder women can be supported for sustainable intensification. It uses qualitative data collected from rural households in Nigeria using in-depth interviews to understand the life history and experiences of smallholder women. Most smallholder women operate in survival mode and are involved in on-farm, off-farm and non-farm work, but they thrive well when they get targeted support or low-risk low-interest credit. However, they also face several vulnerabilities as a result of differences in socioeconomic and sociocultural norms that may undermine their efforts. Policies and programmes set to provide support for women should be deliberate, customisable and transformative such that it takes into cognisance the peculiarities that smallholder women in Africa face.

Table of contents

1 Introduction 2 Smallholder women in an African setting 3 Understanding the connections between institutions, institutional arrangements and livelihoods among smallholder households 4 Smallholder women: life-history narratives 5 Analysis and discussion of case study results 6 Recommendations for action 7 Conclusion 8 Where to look for further information 9 References