5.12 Women in Agriculture

Role Women Play in Food Production and Consumption: Women play a large part in agriculture in South Africa. "FAO" states, "In Sub-Saharan Africa, agriculture accounts for approximately 21% of the continent's GDP and women contribute 60-80% of the labour used to produce food both for household consumption and for sale" (The Role of Women in Agriculture).

"The UN" states, "Do land, seeds and crops have a gender? Perhaps they do in sub-Saharan Africa, where women produce up to 80% of foodstuffs for household consumption and sale in local markets, according to a report by the World Bank and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). For crops such as rice, wheat and maize, which make up about 90% of food consumed by rural dwellers, it is women who mostly sow the seeds, do the weeding, cultivate and harvest the crops and sell surpluses" (Gendering Agriculture).

Women in South Africa tend to be the ones procuring food for their families and managing that food within the household.