Agricultural Extension For Women Farmers In Africa

Operational guidelines on how to provide cost- effective agricultural extension services to women farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa.

World Bank Discussion Paper 230. Based on four country studies and extensive household surveys, this paper documents the breakdown of traditional farming systems in Sub- Saharan Africa and its implications for the role of women in agriculture.

Despite rapid advances in agricultural technology and heavy expenditures by governments and donors on agricultural extension, as much as a fifth of mankind - almost all in developing countries - still goes hungry. Extension programs can increase agricultural productivity and rural incomes by bridging the gap between new technical knowledge and a farmer's practices, but research and extension services usually assume that farmers are men. In fact, women play a critical role in a wide range of agricultural activities, and as men move into off-farm employment, women's importance to agriculture is growing. The specific needs and problems of women farmers must be addressed in the design and implementation of agricultural projects. This paper provides an overview of women farmers and their production systems, presents a framework for analysis of gender issues, suggests interventions and project components, and sets out guidelines for designing and modifying agricultural service projects.

First published in 1996. In what ways have women contributed to agriculture? To what extent have scholars addressed these contributions in the professional literature? What has been the impact of gender in agricultural policy and economic development? What is the status of gender equity in the division of farm labor and in agricultural education? Such questions are raised by students and researchers worldwide who seek documentation which focuses on these vital topics. The purpose of this bibliography is, therefore, to synthesize this unique widely dispersed information in one volume, to assist researchers, faculty, and students in expediting the research process.

In Cameroon's poor northwest province, agricultural extension was extended to women for practical, not ideological, reasons in a sustainable, replicable experiment that increased production and women's income.

Agricultural extension has not been particularly kind to Africa's women farmers. On a continent where women produce 90 percent of the food and 60 percent of total agricultural output, insensitivity and neglect by extension services is the norm. Numerous case studies have pointed out the "gender gap" that exists in the provision of extension services to women farmers. Compared to male farmers or farming couples, women farmers receive far less attention from extension services, thus benefiting less from improved farming techniques. However, in Cameroon's North West province, over the last five years, the Mission de Developpement de la Province du Nord-Ouest (MIDENO), has been implementing a project to improve agricultural production in the province. In terms of agricultural extension, the project has hired almost 200 new extension agents, one-fourth of whom are women. The overall representation of women in the extension service is now 18.3 percent, among the highest in developing countries. The paper is organized into three Chapters : Chapter I deals with the agricultural and policy setting in which MIDENO was designed; Chapter II is devoted to the MIDENO case study; Chapter III attempts to generalize from the MIDENO case and determines the extent to which the MIDENO's experience and success can be sustained and replicated.