- Connectez-vous ou inscrivez-vous pour publier un commentaire
Soumis par Margaret Lukuyu le jeu, 22/06/2017 - 07:28 Permalien
Gender disparities in all sectors of development are not new, but they are worse in the developing countires. In Africa, especially in smallholder farms which account for about 70% of the food production in many countires, women contribute a substancial proportion of the labour for agricultural production, ranging from about 25 to over 50%. Yet, women have very poor access to resources such as land, capital and technology. The disparity among countries shows that there is need to tackle the issues of gender gap in a more country/region specific approach. Investing resources through women has proven to result in higher impact on family welfare, particularly income, health and nutrition. Women have also shown a higher rate of repayment on loans, despite their poor access to credit facilities due to lack od callaterals. Many technological inovations have also proven to be unsuitable for women due to either their complexity in the operation and/or maintenance. It is my view that availing women friendly credit facilities, technical inovations and trainings would go a long way in bridging the gender gap in agricultural production.
Successful initiatives which could be scaled up by the AfDB
Soumis par Margaret Lukuyu le mar, 27/06/2017 - 08:03 Permalien
I believe one of the ways to increase agricultural production by women is to link them to inputs and services. The hub model has proved successful in likning farmers with buyers, input suppliers, credit, and access to training and technical assistance. This model has been sucessfully implemented in smallholder dairy systems in East Africa and some hubs are even growing into rural financial institutions. The Ol Kalau Dairy Cooperative Society in the Central Highlands of Kenya is one such example. In addition to milk marketing, and availing inputs and services to members on credit, the dairy also deliberately gives contracts for milk transportation to women and the youth, to boost their income, hence making them more credit-worthy and empowering them to make greater investments in dairy production. The hub model addresses the complete product value chain and may be focused on any commodity.