Agrarian Transformation(s) in Africa: What’s in it for Women in Rural Africa?

Abstract

Africa is undergoing agrarian transformation(s) characterized primarily by policy formulations at both regional and national levels that are primarily pushing for large-scale commercial agriculture, fragmented and excessive individual property rights and Foreign Direct Investments from multi-national agri-business companies. While rural African women in particular are posited as the main beneficiaries of these policies, the picture emerging is that of the privatization of the commons, privileging international, and to some extent local, private commercial agri-business interests over those of smallholder farmers, mostly women, and promoting the rapid destruction of ecosystems and the increase in conflicts and displacements affecting the rural poor.