Gender dynamics in navigating the glass ceiling in land acquisition and management in sub-Saharan Africa


Hannah Benedicta Taylor-Abdulai, University of Cape Coast,  Ghana

Worldwide, there is gender disparity in land acquisition and management. Sub-Sahara Africa has seen enormous land reforms that sought to make land acquisition and management equitable. The current land reforms in sub-Saharan Africa has seen a shift in land acquisition in some countries. In spite of these reforms there are still disparities between men and women. Culture in the form of customary law embedded in patriarchy determines ownership and management of land which is highly gendered. Whereas men own appreciable size of land, and are more likely to be engaged in cash crops, women on the other hand are more likely to have restricted and unguaranteed rights and use of land. We posit that there is gender difference in land acquisition and management in sub-Saharan Africa as a result of cultural differences. This paper explores the gender dynamics in navigating the glass ceiling in land acquisition and management in sub-Saharan Africa countries. This paper adopts a systematic review as a methodology in reviewing existing literature from both published and unpublished sources such as articles, government reports, Demographic and Health Data Surveys (DHS) on gender variations of land ownership, management, use and control over property. In this paper, an inclusion and exclusion criteria were set to be able to develop a bench mark for data sources, identify pertinent articles, avert duplication of previously addressed questions, at the same time ensure that we have sufficient articles for conducting the study. Therefore we included qualitative and mixed methods studies involving countries from sub-Saharan Africa over the past 20 years. A comprehensive search was conducted on Google Scholar and Cochran databases with search terms such as: land reforms, land acquisition, land management, land rights AND gender. Data extraction was performed independently by two reviewers using a standardized form. Pertinent information, such as study methods, country's land reforms, government interventions, and outcomes, was extracted. A total of 250 titles and abstracts, resulting in 99 full-text articles were assessed for eligibility. In all 22 studies and reports met the inclusion criteria and were included in the systematic review. A narrative synthesis was employed to qualitatively summarize the findings. Preliminary findings from the systematic reviews show several pathways to navigating land acquisitions in sub-Saharan Africa. A significant percentage of reported owners do not have the rights to sell or use the land as collateral and women are mostly disadvantaged and are often participant in the management of plots owned by men. Six countries had consistent data on land ownership and land management and reported who makes the decision on what to plant on the land. In Ghana, 59 percent of agricultural lands and 45 percent of housing were reported to be inherited as a gift, mostly as early inheritances received through marriage. In Tanzania 68 percent of all lands that are owned jointly can be sold by both owners, 23 percent by the male owner alone and just1 percent by the female owner alone. In Ethiopia all lands are vested in the government. Ethiopians have land use rights only. Certified lands allow alienation through inheritance. The certification allows for spouses to be joint owners of land, making Ethiopia, Uganda, Malawi and Tanzania have high joint management of land. Nigeria and Niger have low joint management of land. Whereas Niger has high management of land by women, Malawi has high women ownership of land. Sub-Saharan African cultural practices are not in conformity with modern socioeconomic realities. If sub-Saharan Africa is to achieve SDG 5 which is gender equality and SDG 1 which is eradication of poverty, then, practical steps should be taken to ensure that both genders have equal access to land and management. Various governments must enact laws, and demonstrate through established institutions backed by renewed commitments at enforcing the law, and revisit the reforms through social and political institutions that deal with land issues.

Non-presenting authors: Stella Owusu Afari, Ghana Education Service; Eric Koka, University of Cape Coast

This paper will be presented at the following session: