Agriculture and gender roles in the semi-arid region of Ghana

Abstract

In the Upper East Region (UER) of Ghana, women play an important role in economic growth and poverty reduction through their active engagement in agricultural activities. However, little is known about the extent of their productive roles in agriculture in the region. This study sought to investigate the gender-specific agricultural roles of men and women in the region where the major livelihood is subsistence rain-fed agriculture. A household survey was conducted from August to December 2014 using a pre-tested questionnaire where 150 males and 150 female headed households (HH) were randomly sampled from 14 communities within the Bolgatanga Municipality and Bongo district of UER. The simple Fisher’s exact test using STATA 13 statistical software was used to determine the correlation between gender and agreement or disagreement in productive roles. Results show that women are involved at all levels of farming activities particularly in physically demanding activities such as planting crops, weeding, fertilizer application, tree and crop harvesting among others. Women are not engaged in financial administration except for selling of crops. Men on the other hand, are responsible for land preparation, feeding of livestock, seedling production among others. Planting of crops and harvesting of fruit trees are performed jointly by men and women. About 86 % of men and 94 % of women perceived planting of crops to be a productive task that should be performed jointly, whereas 65 % men and 65 % women expressed the same view on harvesting of fruits. There is a need to empower women through policy formulation and enforcement to allow them equal access to productive resources such as land.