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This document summarizes preliminary research findings on obstacles facing emerging women farmers in South Africa. The research aimed to understand women farmers' levels of control over resources and access to land. Interviews were conducted with women in both single-sex and mixed-sex farming projects. Key obstacles identified included difficulties accessing land and formalizing land rights, lack of resources like water and infrastructure, and inadequate support from local governments. The analysis found that existing land and agriculture policies do not adequately consider gender barriers and have failed to improve women farmers' situations. Strategic interventions are needed to address ineffective policies and ensure women farmers have access to productive resources.
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- 1. Obstacles Facing Emerging Women Farmers in the Western Cape and Northern Cape, South Africa: Preliminary Findings Surplus People’s Project Presentation MARCH 2010
- 2. OBJECTIVES OF RESEARCH: To determine the levels of control and access to productive resources women have in their farming projects To establish whether women in mixed-sex vs. single-sex groups had markedly different control and access to resources
- 3. METHODOLOGY A two-step research process was designed consisting of: Literature review which undertakes a gendered analysis of national land reform and food policies Collection of primary data through interviews with female members of women-only farming projects, as well as female members of mixed gendered farming projects in the Northern Cape and Western Cape Four interviews were conducted with a total of twelve women in the Northern Cape; all but two women were members of mixed sex farming project Two interviews were conducted with a total of five women in the Western Cape
- 4. STRUCTURE OF THE REPORT Section 1: Presents a critique of the government’s land reform and food security strategies. It places these policies in historical context and analyses their conceptual underpinnings – particularly their blindness to the inequalities that define the lives of men vs. women. The analysis applied is two-fold: a gendered analysis as well as analysis from a food sovereignty perspective. Section 2: Gives an account of women farmers’ perceptions of the obstacles they face in competing with male farmers and commercial farmers. These findings are arranged thematically. Section 3: Critically analyses the women farmers’ narratives from a gender perspective and develops several recommendations which SPP may use in assisting women farmers.
- 5. CORE ISSUES FROM THE LITERATURE Land and Food policies are conceived as entirely separate policy areas and the links between them are unclear Land and food policies are based on an inadequate conception of gender as a barrier to accessing land, productive resources and food Identify no specific mechanisms or interventions that address gender inequality Premised on assumption that poverty and socio-economic inequality can be alleviated by increased access to markets
- 6. SIGNFICANCE, ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES Farming as a survival strategy The produce that is generated on the farm is sold to the community and on markets, it is also donated to the sick and to families that have experienced death in their families Decision-making and authority Farming and ‘women’s work’ Most men work with livestock. Both men and women work with the wheat and with the medical care of livestock. Women work with the cultivation of the plants
- 7. KEY OBSTACLES TO FARMING Women identified the following as key obstacles to their farming, regardless of whether they were involved in mixed- or single-sex farming projects: Difficulties in accessing land Problems with formalising tenure rights or lease agreements Concerns about securing continued access to land, due to pending land claims, lack of transparency in land redistribution procedures and/or a lack of understanding of these procedures Pressure to ensure that land is used productively in order to demonstrate the viability of their farming projects Lack of resources such as inadequate supply of water, drought support, fencing, infrastructure, transportation, finances or affordable labour Inadequate support from municipalities & inefficient processes within municipal structures, inadequate support from community structures for e.g. “Advice Office”
- 8. ANALYSIS The situation in which emerging women farmers find themselves demonstrates the disjuncture in the interplay between the reality facing poor women and government’s response to address poverty, all of which occurs within a broader patriarchal social and political context in which institutions and practices effectively exclude and render women, their needs and their contribution to the family, community and society, invisible. For women emerging farmers, the impact of this interplay is experienced in a number of ways, namely: Gender blindness: Emerging women farmers present their involvement in farming projects in relation to their care-giving roles towards the family and community False hope and unrealistic expectations: the commitment expressed in the policies and strategy has created a false sense of hope within poor communities, particularly among the most vulnerable that through utilising the opportunities presented, communities can alleviate poverty. Silenced activism: Emerging women farmers generally do not own land and have limited or indirect access to land.
- 9. STRATEGIC INTERVENTIONS Strategic interventions to bring about a real shift in women’s position and access of emerging women farmers to productive resources, requires careful consideration of the following questions: Are the needs and experiences of emerging women farmers thoroughly understood? How can raising women’s political awareness of their situation be beneficial for these emerging women farmers? How can ongoing implementation of ineffective policies and strategies be addressed so that emerging women farmers benefit? What alternative strategies will ensure benefits for emerging women farmers?
- 10. CONCLUDING COMMENTS Existing land reform policies and food security strategy are not only problematic in terms of their conceptualisation but also in terms of the translation into practice Implementation of the policies and strategy reveal a distancing from the expressed commitment and intentions. Despite glimmers of hope in terms of the provision of ad hoc support, the most common reality is that emerging women farmers, their families and their communities are locked into poverty Ensuring that emerging women farmers have access to productive resources thus requires interventions which not only address some practical barriers to access but also which challenges the patriarchal systems and institutions as well as their related policies and strategies.