Women and Food Insecurity in Africa

It may come as a surprise to some but my mother (in Africa) owns our land just as much as my father does. According to the Western legal and land registry system, my father has the legal title to our land. He can sell it,use it to gain access to credit, and decide to commercialize it among other activities but my mother cannot! On the other hand, it is my mother who spends 90% of her time hoe-in-hand on land. Culturally, the land is hers; the land is hers as a mother to my father's children - me!

African women produce 60 - 80% of the food on the continent. The seed banks we so much benefit from - and which embody so much agricultural knowledge - were passed on generation to generation and were largely created by women. Indigenous societies' respect for the strategic knowledge held by women kept agriculture alive. African women were rendered without property when Western legal system clashed with the indigenous ones. Women ownership of land in the new system stands at only 1% of arable land in the continent. Why then are we surprised when Africa experiences famine? 

To increase food productivity, a revised recognition of property ownership that respects indigenous titles to land of women ought to be revived. Basically an intensive agricultural knowledge sharing and revision of property right definition ought to be added to a wider menu of suggestions to fight famine.

James Shikwati

Please post your response to James in the Community Forum or email getintouch@stewardshipcommunity.com and your response will be posted for you. Your name can be withheld if you prefer.

 

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