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Soumis par Yinka Adesola le mer, 14/06/2017 - 16:11 Permalien
Gender gap in Agriculture occurs because it's generally believed that men are the ones involved in agriculture.
Right from ages in Africa, agriculture is a man's foray. Women only stay at home to prepare food for the family.
Our fathers' also take women to farm only when they want to harvest. Or when they need extra hand in the farm to carry load.
The gender gap has been there for years.
But gradually women have started to become the bread winners of the family and playing more than supportive role.
Women are now having their own farm, they do the main farming work, shelling, processing etc. But the old methods and general belief that men are the ones who work in agriculture never ceize.
Soumis par Yinka Adesola le mer, 14/06/2017 - 15:43 Permalien
Women in agriculture are in a men dominated territory because agriculture is believe to be the men's affair.
Due to this believe, tools and equipment in agriculture are mainly designed for men to use.
Statistics however show that there are more women in several fields of agriculture in this age.
And the biggest hindrance now come from not having the appropriate tool to use in the farm.
Starting from land clearing and tilling the soils, its time to abandon the hoes and cutlass.
Its back breaking and tedious. It takes a lot of time working on a small spot. It discourage women from venturing into the farm.
Hoes and cutlass can be replaced with tillers, weed cutters and grass slashers that are affordable.
Putting in mind that the target audience are small holder farmers who live below $2 per day.
Having access to better tools will not only increase production but will also encourage more women to participate in farming leading to sustainability.
In Africa, majority of our crop are grown in the rainy season using the effects of rainfall.
Every house hold plant and harvest at the same time thereby leading to gluts in the market.
This gives rise to the need for either a storage system or a preserving system.
Most food crop can be preserved by drying.
Considering that 80% of rural dwellers are either not connected to the power grid or have less than an average of 2hrs electricity per day.
One solution to consider will be solar.
Africa sure have between 5- 8 hours of sunlight per day.
Women in Agriculture will be encouraged if they can have access to solar drying system that will help preserve the surplus at harvest.
This will help them save the produce for a later date for better cash to improve the status
We do understand there is a huge gap between innovation and adoption.
The innovations are not getting to the rural dwellers that needs it. Researchers and fabricators work are mainly shown in videos and projectors.
How do women access this information?
How do they know the next improved tools if its not taken to them?
Coming up with research and innovations will not solve the problem of women in agriculture if the resources did not get to the right place for proper usage.
What are the implications of this gender gap for women?
Soumis par Yinka Adesola le mer, 14/06/2017 - 16:16 Permalien
The implication of the gender gap is that women are excluded in the majority of the agricultural research and projects that are laid out to improve agriculture.
Majority of what is done here is provided for men and not women because its generally believed that women are not in agriculture.