Rural women's access to land in sub-Saharan Africa and implications for meeting the Millennium Development Goals

abstract

Increasingly, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have been critiqued in relation to the neglect of social inequalities and for reinforcing the subordinate position of women. The neglect extends to concerns of current development agendas that tend to undermine women's empowerment and reinforce gender inequalities. Southern-based countries’ priorities have been often defined around the need to meet basic necessities and national debt and the MDGs may require much activism on the ground to ensure that gender equality is addressed. This Article examines the implications of pervasive and persistent gender inequalities in access to and control over land resources in rural sub-Saharan Africa in relation to the MDGs. In particular, widespread patriarchal practices that prevent women's access to and control over land will result in MDG 3, the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women, being undermined. Land access and rights are critical in relation to meaningfully empowering women (economically, socially and politically) and to address practical and strategic gender needs. This Article examines impacts of unequal access to land, an important socio-economic and political resource, on MDGs 1 (the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger), 2 (achieving universal primary education) and 7 (ensuring environmental sustainability). Attention to linkages with other MDGs is a contribution to the literature which tends to focus almost exclusively on women's empowerment (MDG 3). Additionally, the Article critically examines policy gaps and provides recommendations to advocate for strengthening women's land rights and creating conditions for broadening their access to land.

Keywords:

• Women
• land access
• Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
• sub-Saharan Africa
• empowerment

Notes

1. A relevant case is Nepal which in 2002 introduced the 11th amendment, granting equal rights to ancestral property for daughters, full inheritance rights to widows and a wife's rights to her husband's property (United Nations Development Programme-UNDP, 2008). However, by 2007, the gap between progressive legislation and actual practice was still wide (UNDP, 2008). In response, UNDP and UNIFEM developed an innovative initiative involving rights holders and duty bearers to alter attitudes, customs and beliefs surrounding women's rights to land and property, one of the key barriers to increasing women's access to land. The programme resulted in a renewed commitment to give priority to women's land rights in Nepal (UNDP, 2008). During this same period, the government increased the percentage of tax rebate granted to people who registered property in the name of a woman from 10%–20%. Reports from the Department of Land Reform and Management have shown a significant increase in women's land ownership and 25% of the total land registered in 13 different land revenue offices in Nepal are in the names of women.

2. CEDAW was adopted in 1979 by the United Nations General Assembly. It is described as the international bill of rights for women and defines what constitutes discrimination against women and sets out an agenda for national action against gender discrimination (CEDAW, 2009).

3. The OECD has made a clear connection between women's knowledge of their rights, the importance of education and how women's progress is obstructed by discriminatory customs that remove them from school and early marriage (OECD, 2010).