What is the issue in Africa for women farmers?

Crop diversification, small-scale irrigation, and loan advocacy have been promoted in Africa to improve productivity, food availability and resilience to climate hazards for female African farmers. The underdevelopment of the agricultural sector has been identified in many African countries, among other major bottlenecks constraining development.

The reasons why Agriculture in Africa changed little in thousands of years for women is partly a result of poor agricultural technology development. For instance, despite soil fertility is a key ingredient for improved agricultural production, however female farmers are sometimes denied loans to buy farming equipment and supplies based on the fact they are female.

Many female African farmers lose crops due to disease and pest infestations. This inability to control endemic disease outbreaks means that African families fail to meet international trade standards and so lose market opportunities and opportunities to make a living to send children to school. Given the heavy dependence on agriculture, the effects of refusing women to own land and unchanging farming technology African agriculture could clearly put millions of people at greater risk of poverty and hunger.