TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF RESEARCH ON WOMEN FARMERS IN AFRICA: LESSONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS; WITH AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Adekayne, T.O. 1987. African women in agriculture:
Problems and policies for development. Presence
Africaine 141: 7-14.

This paper is a general discussion on the need to integrate
women into development projects. It makes specific
reference to Nigeria, where women are important in
agriculture, especially in food production, processing, and
distribution. Regional differences among women in the
west, north, and east regions of Nigeria are discussed.
Women in the north have much lower participation in
farming than in the west or east, predominately because of
traditional Muslim beliefs. The author cites women’s
relatively low participation in cooperative groups as evidence
that women are marginalized in development programs and
argues that poor farmers, both men and women, should be
targeted as recipients of development aid. Maize is a
subsistence crop often grown by women. This article offers a
general explanation of the need to incorporate women into
development schemes and suggests possible areas for policy
intervention.

Adesina, A.A., and M.M. Zinnah. 1993. Technology
characteristics, farmers’ perceptions and adoption
decisions: A Tobit model application in Sierra Leone.
Agricultural Economics 9: 297-311.

This paper tests whether farmers’ perceptions of the
characteristics of improved varieties of mangrove swamp rice
affect the adoption decision. The authors examine the
impact of farmers’ perceptions of taste, yield, ease of
cooking, tilling capacity, and ease of threshing on the
adoption and intensity of adoption. Farmers’ perceptions of
these characteristics are significant in explaining their
decisions, whereas the farm- and farmer-specific
characteristics are not. The gender of the farmer is not
included.

Adesina, A.A., and K.K. Djato. 1997. Relative efficiency of
women as farm managers: Profit function analysis in
Côte d’Ivoire.” Agricultural Economics 16: 47-53.

Using a profit function approach, rather than the standard
production function approach, the authors compare the
efficiency of men and women rice farmers in Côte d’Ivoire.
The results suggest that the relative degree of efficiency of
women is similar to that of men. The study concludes that it
is necessary to eliminate the bias against women rice
farmers.

Alwang, J., and P.B. Siegel. 1994. Rural Poverty in Zambia:
An Analysis of Causes and Policy Recommendations.
Washington, D.C.: Human Resources Division,
Southern Africa Department, The World Bank.

This volume in a five-volume series on poverty assessment in
Zambia focuses on rural poverty. Since maize in Zambia is
the staple crop, policies regarding maize production and
pricing have a significant impact on the poor in rural

Zambia. Comparisons are made of male- and female-
headed households in poverty. The issues of access to land
and land tenure are critical for understanding rural poverty,
and women frequently have less access to productive land.
A household model is developed that shows how farmers
optimize their farming systems to deal with a number of
constraints.

Appleton, H. 1995. Do It Herself: Women and Technical
Innovation. London: Intermediate Technology
Publications.

This volume contains a series of case studies of successful
technical innovations by women in Africa, Latin America,
and Asia. The only agricultural project cited is one to
increase the production of indigenous vegetables in Kenya,
although a number of food processing projects are
presented. The introduction to the volume provides insights
from the case studies into when women will be involved in
technical innovations—these lessons may be applicable to a
wide range of activities, including agricultural production.

Arene, C.J. 1992. Comparative economics of maize and rice
production among resource-poor farmers in Anambra
state of Nigeria. African Development Review 4(1): 102-
13.

Maize and rice are staple crops of Nigeria. While Nigeria
has the resources to be self-sufficient in both crops, current
production is insufficient to provide enough food for the
growing population. This paper seeks to determine how
output can be raised. It examines the characteristics of poor
smallholder farmers in Anambra State of Nigeria who are
already using improved seeds, fertilizers, and crop
husbandry techniques recommended by extension agents.
The regression analysis shows that farm size, credit, level of
adoption of recommended production technologies, level of
formal education of farmers, and age of farmers are
significantly related to the maize farmers’ output.

Household size and number of years of farming experience
are less important. While the results of gross margin analysis
reveal a greater profit margin for rice than for maize, the
author does not recommend a reallocation of resources
from maize to rice because of soil type and environmental
considerations. No mention of gender is made, and the sex
of the household head was not included in the regression
analysis.

Asenso-Okyere, W.K., G. Benneh, and W. Tims (eds.).
1997. Sustainable Food Security in West Africa. Boston:
Kluwer Academic Publishers.

This publication discusses many of the key issues related to
sustainable food security in West Africa. Contributions
cover subjects of food availability, accessibility, and
utilization. Most of the articles are on Ghana, although an
article on the maize market in Benin is also included as are
two articles on Burkina Faso. The book came out of a policy

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