Where does the AfCFTA Meet African Women in Agriculture? Feminist Reflections, Insights and Strategies

By Njoki Ngumi

INTRODUCTION

Agriculture is by far the biggest sector employer in the African Continent. An Economic Brief from the African Development Bank in 2017 revealed that up to 70 per cent of the workforce, directly supports 90 per cent of the livelihoods, and accounting for up to a quarter of the continent’s total Gross Domestic Product
(GDP).1 The agricultural sector accounts for the work done by the majority of the continent’s population, with further 2017 figures pegging the majority of countries as accounting for this group.2 Further, 80 per cent of this farming is done by smallholders, many of whom are women. As such, the status and role of women on the African continent is key to any gains that the agricultural sector intends to make on the continent. This is elaborated by the synergistic existence of African Union (AU) protocols, and some, in particular, that stand out. First among them is the 2003 Maputo Declaration on Agriculture and Food Security in Africa, which states an intention to allocate at least a tenth of national budgets to the sector in recognition of the urgent needs therein, as well as the vulnerabilities and resultant crises.6 A second example is the Maputo Protocol, with its focus on women’s rights; Article 13 on economic and social welfare rights recognises current barriers to women’s enjoyment of equity in this regard and outlines strategies to promote women’s equal opportunities in work and career advancement and other economic opportunities. A third is the 2014 Malabo Declaration, which cites the need for Africans, especially women, to both participate and gain from any growth and development opportunities afforded by agricultural practices on the continent; it notes that the undermined potential of the sector limits both participation and gains for marginalised communities