An African Woman at her Grocery

 Africa has for  a long time experienced feminisation of poverty as women remain poor and oppressed. Despite labouring intensively for long hours everyday, they still don’t get direct benefits for it.

African women are often denied access to critical resources such as credit, land and inheritance. Their labour goes unrewarded and unrecognised. Their health and nutritional needs are not given priority. Their participation in decision-making at home and in the community are minimal.
 
This makes it difficult for women to obtain equality with men and find opportunities to achieve a decent quality of life as their social and economic rights continue to be marginalised. UN data shows that of the 1.3 billion citizens in the world who are characterised as poor, 70 per cent are women. In the labour market, women workers are the preferred choice not because of their professionalism, but because they can be exploited.
 
African countries need to create an educational system which is free at all levels for the girl-child to acquire education hence contribute in future as a skilled human capital in the labour market. But are our African Governments willing to adjust their economic policies, which breed increased unemployment and poverty among women?
 
Many a times, resources targeted at women have been grabbed by men, as in the case of credit schemes in Ghana. Targeting resources at poor women may help project beneficiaries. In tackling poverty amongst women, approaches, which are gender blind for instance sending corrupt male officials to give loans to women, should be avoided. 
 
Improved outreach, the replacement of physical with social collateral through group formation and simplified procedures are examples of mechanisms to overcome these barriers since some subsidised credit companies like the Kenya Women Finance Trust targeting poor or low income women does not often reach them. This will also strengthen women's bargaining power and support to community action such as challenging corrupt local officials, or protesting against domestic violence. The strength and productivity of the national economy must be developed in order for women to find productive employment field.

Our governments should borrow a leaf from Mozambique where the State has made an achievement of gender equality a major objective in its Poverty Reduction Strategy (PARPPA II), and specifically recognises that the empowerment of women is a decisive factor in the eradication of poverty (GOM 2005). It also recognises that there are gaps in the gathering and analysis of data that is broken down by sex, and that those gaps must be filled. They have gone ahead to put in place strong policies for women empowerment and gender equality. Over to you African governments.