African Women's Report 2009 - United Nations Economic ...

Some countries such as Ghana and South Africa, demonstrate intra-regional disparitiesin land access among women. In the former, land access tends to be high amongthe Ashanti (54 per cent), a matrilineal community, while a similar observation canbe made of the Western Cape of South Africa (41.2 per cent).What is morecritical is thatwomen arenot accessingproductiveresources (land andcredit) to the sameextent as men inmany countries.Despite the existence of initiatives in favour of gender equality in land ownership,various socio-cultural barriers prevent this from materialising. Discriminatory legislationcontinues to exist in some countries, while in others, the lack of harmonybetween customary and modern laws serves as an impediment to enforcing equalrights.Critical conclusions and recommended actionsThe analysis of the economic block, has underscored the need for African countriesto improve upon data collection in relation to male and female participation inthe economy. In particular, a case has been made for countries to invest in TimeUse Surveys for a better appreciation of the division of time between productiveand non-productive work. One immediate impression is the lack of consistencybetween the scores obtained under this block with those of the social block. In thelatter, countries such as Egypt and Tunisia were seen to perform well in educationenrolment and health delivery. By contrast, however, their showing in economicparticipation proved less impressive, indicating that certain social, religious and culturalfactors potentially impede the economic advancement of women, regardless ofeducational status.Findings have established the dominant position of the agricultural sector as thelargest employer of both men and women and changing dynamics in roles in foodand cash cropping due to the fluid nature of local and international markets. Whatis however clear from the findings is that the majority of female agricultural workersare unpaid family members on farms belonging to male owners and that only a fewtend to be independent operatives. Women’s earnings in this occupation, therefore,invariably tend to be lower than that of men or do not exist in all countries.What is more critical is that women are not accessing productive resources (landand credit) to the same extent as men in many countries. It has been shown that theunder utilization of women in agriculture has the potential to reverse gains in povertyreduction efforts. In the more formal environment of the civil service, the findingsalso point to lower earning capacities of women due to their location in loweremployment echelons. Some of the challenges being presented in formal and informalemployment arrangements are supposed to be dealt with under the legal andpolicy frameworks afforded to workers under various ILO Conventions, PRSPs and164African Women’s Report 2009 Measuring Gender Inequalities in Africa