Gender and Asset Ownership in the Old and New Lands of Egypt

ABSTRACT

The Middle East and North Africa region has the lowest level of women’s land ownership in the world, yet little research has explored the barriers and opportunities women face in land ownership in the region. This paper identifies patterns, opportunities, and constraints of ownership of land and other assets (houses, livestock, poultry, and gold) by women and men in the Old and New Lands of Egypt. Based on a survey complemented with qualitative interviews, the study finds that both women and men viewed land and houses as the most economically and socially important assets, but they differed in what assets they considered to be valuable for women. The findings highlight the importance of implementing policies that optimize women’s property ownership, even if they own non-land assets. The study concludes that while legal and economic interventions aid in accomplishing gender-equity goals, consciousness-raising initiatives are as crucial as pro-women policy reforms.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Women are disadvantaged in land ownership in the New and Old Lands in Egypt, though not to the extent the literature has assumed for the MENA region.

• Patterns of asset ownership and control are similar to other regions: men own and control more land and housing; women own and sometimes control (liquefiable) livestock and gold

• Men underestimate women’s preferences for owning immovable property (land and housing) even in the New Lands, where 20 percent of land titles are distributed to women.

• Women who acquire land remained hesitant or unwilling to enable their daughters to inherit land at par with their sons.

• While pro-women policy reforms should be implemented, consciousness-raising initiatives are equally crucial.

KEYWORDS:

• Gender
• assets
• perceptions
• access
• control
• Egypt

JEL Codes:

• D1
• B54
• K11

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors are grateful for the generous funding provided by the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) grant number 200084. The authors are also thankful to researchers at the Agricultural Research Center in Egypt who contributed to the survey design and analysis of the findings.

Notes

1 All personal information that would allow for the identification of any persons described in the article has been removed.

2 We recognize that the age and incompleteness of the existing data on gender and landownership in the MENA region poses serious challenges for researchers attempting to design studies to answer these nuanced questions.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) [grant number 200084].

Notes on contributors

Dina Najjar

Dina Najjar is a Gender Research Scientist at the Sustainable Intensification and Resilient Production Systems Program (SIRPSP) at the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA).

Bipasha Baruah

Bipasha Baruah is Professor and Canada Research Chair in Global Women’s Issues at the Department of Women’s Studies and Feminist Research at the University of Western Ontario.

Aman El Garhi

Aman El Garhi is Senior Researcher at the Rural Women Development Research Department, Agricultural Extension and Rural Development Research Institute (AERDRI), Agricultural Research Center (ARC), Cairo, Egypt.