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Women’s organizations, such as the RwandanWomen’s Network and Haguruka, collaboratedwith local authorities to monitor land registrationsand sensitize officials and communities about thechanges. 245 However, the same study found an8 percentage point decrease in the likelihood ofinformally married women having documented landownership, highlighting the importance of beingsensitive to existing customary arrangements inreform processes. 246Top-down land titling programmes that eitherundermine women’s existing land rights, ignore theconstraints posed to women by existing customarytenure arrangements and land governanceinstitutions, or fail to create widespread publicawareness are unlikely to secure rights forwomen. In some cases, poorly designed land titlingprogrammes have triggered waves of speculativeland acquisition that have primarily benefited localelites at the expense of those with less secure claimson land, including women and migrants. 247In some sub-Saharan African countries, efforts tomake use of ‘traditional’ or customary institutionsto reform land tenure have been problematic forwomen, who sometimes lack rights or decisionmakingpower within customary systems. Formalrecognition of such institutions by governments orinternational development agencies can confergreater legitimacy on them than they previouslyenjoyed, which may further entrench women’sdisadvantage and lack of agency. 248Securing rural women’s livelihoodsLegal and policy efforts to strengthen women’sland rights over agricultural land are important, butsecure land tenure alone cannot end rural women’spoverty. 249 In Ethiopia, for example, even wherewomen hold a land certificate or are informallyacknowledged to control land, social norms dictatethat they cannot plough the land themselves. 250Female-headed households are therefore forced tosharecrop their land, which means they earn muchless than households that have access to male labour.Therefore, alongside land tenure reform, other policymeasures are needed to improve the returns towomen’s agricultural employment and enterprises.Increasing women’s access to agriculturalservices, markets and financeAgricultural extension services provide vital supportfor women farmers to increase their productivityand incomes. The reach of these services is ofteninadequate overall, but women are especially likelyto miss out. In Ghana, for example, on averageonly 12 per cent of male-headed households andless than 2 per cent of female-headed householdsreported receiving extension advice. 251 In somecases, a lack of female extension workers meansthat it is not socially acceptable for women toreceive these services. 252 Exclusion from extensionactivities is a particular problem in the context ofclimate change, with less predictable rainfall andmore crop failures making it especially importantthat small-scale farmers get the support they needto adapt.Women also face numerous barriers in accessingmarkets, including lack of capacity to producesufficient volume or quality of produce; lack of securemarkets or established relationships with buyers;problems with transport; restrictions on mobility; andlack of time due to unpaid work burdens. 253 Wherewomen do engage directly with markets, they areoften confined to specific products, market segmentsor locations. In global value chains, contract-farmingarrangements are rarely made directly with womenfarmers. 254Participation in cooperatives or other collectiveaction groups can deliver clear economic benefitsto rural women and give them greater control overincome and even land. 255 In Mali, for example,women have created their own cooperatives inthe shea butter sector over the past two decades,resulting in improved quality of the product andincreased annual earnings for members. 256 Women’sparticipation in the cooperatives has contributedto shifts in perceptions on gender roles, includinggreater recognition and opportunities for them tonegotiate with community leaders to sustain theiractivities. 257Well-designed rural savings groups targetingwomen have a role to play in increasing theiraccess to finance, alongside institutional finance