Seclusion and exclusion of women from agriculture in south Niger

Drought, environmental degradation and population growth cause land scarcity amongst farming communities. Communities have responded by changing traditional patterns of land ownership and distribution. However, in densely populated Maradi region of south Niger, these changes reduce women’s rights to ownership of agricultural land, excluding them from agricultural activities.

Rural populations depend on access to land and natural resources to sustain their livelihoods. However, land management and distribution systems are breaking down, due to land scarcity and food insecurity. As less land is available for redistribution to family members, young men and boys are receiving less and less land. Traditionally, young men would give their wives a share of their farmland, but as land becomes scarce, fewer husbands can spare land.

Women are active farmers, but these changing ecological and demographic pressures mean women are becoming excluded from agriculture and land ownership. Research from the International Institute for Environment and Development, UK, looks at problems facing women in Niger. Important findings include:

• Women traditionally worked in the fields alongside their husbands. As fields become smaller, women’s labour is no longer required. Women must now generate income through activities which do not require land.
• Old women who own land are now transferring it to their male children or grandchildren, to secure the continuation of the family; male descendents claim their right to inherit land through Islamic law to do this.
• Islamic and customary laws are commonly used to justify seclusion as an excuse to the exclusion of women from land ownership. However, Islamic law permits women to own land. Women’s exclusion is therefore due to social and cultural factors, not religion.
• Exclusion of women from agriculture has a negative effect on ecological diversity. Indigenous knowledge of medicinal and therapeutic properties causes women to protect diverse species.

Women’s exclusion from land ownership has significant impacts on food security. Women are responsible for providing food through the dry season; they must therefore diversify their ways of providing food through activities not dependent on land. Furthermore, excluding women from land ownership makes them dependent on male relatives.

Many women depend on the income they generate through extracting and processing natural resources. This traditionally includes collecting staple crops such as millet, sorghum and corn, and bush products gathering such as leaves, wood, fruit, traditional medicines and handicrafts. As women lose access to land, they also lose access to natural resources contained within the land. However, they do not lose access to other natural resources, especially in the “commons” (meaning forest and bush land). As they are excluded from agriculture, they become increasingly dependent on bush products.

Policymakers can support women by developing alternative ways of generating income and raising awareness of women’s legal rights to land ownership. Policymakers can also work with social, economic and political systems to ensure fairer methods of land distribution. Key policy lessons include:

• Policymakers must ensure women’s involvement and participation in identifying and developing food security projects, particularly during the dry season.
• By promoting knowledge and use of statutory and Islamic laws, policymakers can help women to become aware of their rights to land ownership and inheritance.

Source(s):
‘Women’s access to land: The de-feminisation of agriculture in southern Niger?’ IIED Drylands Programme, Issue paper 128, by M. Doka and M. Monimart, 2004 Full document.
‘Etude sur le changement et l’empowerment féminin dans le cadre du projet’ SCVM et Equité entre les Genres, Care International au Niger, M. Doka 2003
‘Etude sur les coûts de responsabilisation des femmes dans le cadre de la mise en œuvre des activites du Projet Mata Masu Dubara (Epargne Crédit)’, Care International au Niger, Janvier 2003

Funded by: IIED Drylands Programme

id21 Research Highlight: 20 May 2005

Further Information:
Marthe Doka
International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED)
3 Endsleigh Street
London
WC1H 0DD
UK

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7388 2117
Fax: +44 (0) 20 7388 2826
Contact the contributor: drylands@iied.org; doka@intnet.ne; mmonimart@careniger.ne

International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), UK

Marie Monimart
CARE International au Niger
B.P. 10 155
Niamey
Niger

Tel: +227 75 78 30
Fax: +227 74 07 55

Other related links:
'Women belonging to minority groups: facing multiple disadvantages?'

'Access to water: a woman’s right?'

'Increasing women’s role in food security in Africa'

'Men first: inheritance rights and women in rural China'

Dimitra - Rural Women and Development

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