Gender, Land and Labour Relations and Livelihoods in Sub-Saharan Africa in the era of Economic Liberalisation: Towards a Research Agenda

This article draws attention to the different bodies of literature on land tenure, labour relations and the livelihood approaches which provide a starting point for the consideration of resource tenures and labour relations in the organisation of livelihoods. It argues that while the separate literatures on land and labour provide insights into the implications of gender inequalities in labour relations and resource tenures for livelihoods, their separation has resulted in partial analyses which the livelihoods approaches have attempted to remedy. The livelihoods approaches, though promising, have with few exceptions been unable to adequately take account of social relations in the organization of livelihoods, and have thus failed to account for the gendered land and resource tenures and labour relations at the heart of production systems. The article identifies promising efforts in feminist anthropology, economics and political economy to account for the labour and land relations in production systems, discussing useful insights such as the control of the labour of women and other household members which facilitates male control over land and other resources, and the importance of women’s responsibility for reproductive activities for their resource and labour deficits.

By: Dzodzi Tsikata

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