Women form a large proportion of agricultural labor force in sub-saharan Africa and thus play a vital role in ensuring family nutrition and food security. This new study measuring the economic costs of the gender gap in agricultural productivity in three African countries — Malawi, Tanzania and Uganda — provides further evidence that reducing the gender gap translates into significant poverty reduction and improved nutritional outcomes. The report provides a unique quantification of the costs in terms of lost growth opportunities and an estimate of what societies, economies and communities would gain were the gender gaps in agriculture to be addressed. The report also provides guidance as to the factors that must be targeted in order to close the gender gap by improving opportunities for women farmers. It concludes with a set of general policy recommendations of how women’s empowerment, agriculture productivity and economic growth can be addressed in an integrated manner and thereby contributes to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals at the national level.
This report is a joint production of UN Women, the United Nations Development Programme–United Nations Environment Programme Poverty-Environment Initiative (UNDP-UNEP PEI) Africa, and the World Bank. The collaboration was led
by UN Women, Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office (ESARO).
