Agricultural Extension For Women Farmers In Africa

First published in 1996. In what ways have women contributed to agriculture? To what extent have scholars addressed these contributions in the professional literature? What has been the impact of gender in agricultural policy and economic development? What is the status of gender equity in the division of farm labor and in agricultural education? Such questions are raised by students and researchers worldwide who seek documentation which focuses on these vital topics. The purpose of this bibliography is, therefore, to synthesize this unique widely dispersed information in one volume, to assist researchers, faculty, and students in expediting the research process.

Operational guidelines on how to provide cost- effective agricultural extension services to women farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa.

In Cameroon's poor northwest province, agricultural extension was extended to women for practical, not ideological, reasons in a sustainable, replicable experiment that increased production and women's income.

Women often have less access to agricultural information than men, constraining their participation in decision-making on crops, technologies, and practices. In the design of agricultural extension programs, women may be viewed as insignificant actors in agricultural production. Moreover, even if their role is recognized, valuable information on production does not flow freely within the household from men to women. Among groups of maize-farming households in eastern Uganda, we explore the impacts on women’s empowerment from the use of gender-responsive information and communication technologies to provide extension services, specifically videos that feature women as information providers. The research tests the relative impact of the videos, contrasting their informational effects versus their role model effects, on women’s knowledge, their agency, and their achievements in farming. The results show that targeting women with information increases their achievements in farming. However, the results for the role-model effects are mixed.

First Published in 2008. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

World Bank Discussion Paper 230. Based on four country studies and extensive household surveys, this paper documents the breakdown of traditional farming systems in Sub- Saharan Africa and its implications for the role of women in agriculture.