Policy Brief Three: Women in Agriculture in Developing Countries

Land Acquisition for Women as a Barrier to Agriculture

Land rights have always been a source of conflict. Today the land grab is not between countries, but between individuals in rural communities. Women have long been denied the right to own land. While land rights have been rectified in most core states, periphery nations have to contend with societal norms and legacies of patrilinear passage of land among generations. In order for women to receive the full benefits of their agricultural work, they need to have security in land ownership.

Post-colonial land reform has often left women out of the equation, or vested land rights in the remains of colonial systems, which tends not to favor the native people of the country in question. In post-colonial India, very little redistribution was done. “When we look back after 58 years of independence only 1.8% of surplus land has been distributed to the landless and most of this land has been given in the name of men.” (ICARRD, 9). Much of the land was given or sold to multinational corporations. Women also have to overcome higher percentages of illiteracy and often uninformed about banking systems.

There are three sources of land for women: transfer of land from the government, from the market, or through family inheritance (ICARRD, 2). 87% of land is privately owned, so land is most often gained through inheritance. (ICARRD, 2). Land cannot just be viewed in terms of the economic value of property; “land is a source of security to produce food for sustenance” (ICARRD, 2).

ICARRD (International Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development) outlines seven demands from government to improve land rights for women (ICARRD, 3). The government should give rural families 2-5 acres of land under the women’s name by giving them surplus land. This is especially important for marginalized groups. The government should give “security of tenure” to people, with no forced evictions. This would make it possible for women farmers to be guaranteed a permanent livelihood without having to worry about losing their productive agricultural land. Another key demand is an increase in women’s share of inheritance and property. Currently the system is highly patrilinear in most provinces of India. ICARRD is calling for “Gender-Just Agrarian Reform.” (ICARRD, 3).

Cherryl Walker outlines a similar situation in Southern and Eastern Africa. This region has also had to recover form colonial rule. The land dispensation in the wake of colonialism has formed a land-owning system with high racial disparity, with only 2% of private, commercial farmland in South Africa under black ownership (Walker, 14). However, when women manage to get land, they have been more successful than their male neighbors, with more land under cultivation and higher yields (Walker, 15).

Threats to women holding land are widowhood, war and conflict, and increased pressures from HIV/AIDS. In most societies in Africa, when women are widowed, they are at the mercy of their husband’s family. Traditionally, they are taken care of, but cases arise in which the land they had farmed is redistributed back to the husband’s family. War and conflict in many African nations has changed the ownership of land and made weak governments that are unable to settle land disputes or vouch for previous ownership. In terms of labor, the HIV/AIDS epidemic has had a vast impact of food and crop production. The adult rate is as high as 36% in Botswana, with females affected more overall than males (Walker, 27). Walker also notes that “the likelihood of AIDS exacerbating already observed trends towards increased landlessness on the one hand and accumulation of land in the hands of the wealthier members of society on the other is considerable” (Walker, 33).

One way that the experience in Africa is different from India is that it is hard to generalize about women’s rights, as different societies have different lineage rights to property. Some are patrilineal and some are matrilineal. However, “these advantages are coming under pressure from the spread of patrilineal norms and practices” (Walker, 16).

Walker gives specific suggestions for future research, including comparative studies on land use to understand the gendered interests of land strategies, research on local solutions, and monitoring of government land and urban land policies. (Walker, 68-69). Walker’s policy recommendations include “Constitutional commitment to gender equity”, development of indicators to measure progress on land rights for women, changing “personal, family and customary law, including provisions on inheritance, which discriminate against women, as well as the review and repeal of any other legislation that prevents women from owning land or entering into contracts in their own right.” (Walker 69-70). Many of Walker’s recommendations are more developmental, such as increasing AIDS awareness, building infrastructure and increasing rural development, and increasing women’s influence in local and national governments. Her final recommendation is to address unequal trade for African agriculture and industry at the “macroeconomic and global level.” (Walker, 70).

Judy Adoko disagrees with Walker and ICARRD. She believes that educating women about their rights may not be enough. While customary law for some tribes in Uganda give women more rights than the state, customary law isn’t always being applied. In fact, Adoko argues that “customary authorities” or clan leader don’t know their own unwritten laws anymore, and customary laws are being lost to their cultures. The state is increasingly ignoring the clan system. Because of their diminished powers, clan leaders themselves are no longer clear about their powers and have become victims of land grabbing. The government and NGOs have inherited colonial prejudices against native and traditional culture, and even if they did respect these pre-existing legal systems, do not have the legal infrastructure to absorb them.

Adoko claims that women’s land rights will not improve until the government and NGOs change their conceptions of customary law, the government becomes more “proactive” about addressing the problems, and policy is based on reality instead of colonial prejudices (Adoko).

I think that there is going to need to be an integrated approach to increasing women’s land rights. While the agricultural success of women depends heavily on having land to use, women need a guarantee that they will have sustained access to it independent of their husband or the government. The approach to land rights is dependent on the country, as each nation has different things to contend with. Colonial history and native and indigenous attitudes will shape the land use situation in each individual country, and a one-size-fits-all solution will not work. I think that strong countries need to include a constitutional right for women to hold land in their governance, while countries with weak governments should focus on local solutions. I feel that supporting the cultures with matrilinear lines of succession will help to curb the increase in patriarchical values. If we preserve them from being affected by the spread of patriarchical values, we won’t have to redo the work of generations in those specific cultures. As women gain land rights, it will create a precedent for them to receive other rights that their male land-owning counterparts receive.

Works Cited

Adoko, Judy, and Simon Levine. "IATP | Trade Observatory | Headlines." Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy | Where Global and Local Meet Sustainability. The Guardian, 26 Mar. 2009. Web. 25 Apr. 2011. .

"A Case Study on Implementing Land Rights for Women in India." ICARRD, Feb. 2006. Web. 26 Apr. 2011. .

Walker, Cherryl. "Land Reform in Southern and Eastern Africa: Key Issues for Strengthening Women's Access to and Rights in Land." World Bank, Mar. 2002. Web. 25 Apr. 2011. .