Women in Agribusiness

 Women are important stake holders in Agribusiness and they play a vital  role in food security across the globe and Agriculture is the most common source of employment to a significant proportion of women in sub Saharan Africa. A large proportion of women however are seen mostly in the on farm production activities such as cultivating, planting with less involvement in Agribusiness facets like processing, distribution, packaging, branding and packaging yet the above agribusiness facets are known to generate more revenue than the on farm activities. With all the production activities women carryout, most men are seen at the time of sale, where women are not given a coin of what they tirelessly worked for denying the women a chance to improve their standards of living for example taking up an education or perhaps reinvest the revenue generated in acquiring their own land.

Women face challenges in their involvement in Agribusiness among which include the following;

• limited or no access to farmland
• limited access to agricultural training and extension services relative to men.
• limited access to credit and other financial services.
• Lower wages for women as to men for the same work.
• Greater workloads that is; household responsibilities of cleaning, cooking and caring for children, elders and the women.
• limited access to technology for example tractors, smart phones.

By encouraging women to form groups can help overcome many of the above mentioned challenges for example women will be able to acquire credit/finance for the activities both on farm and agribusiness facets.

In conclusion, with SDG 5 of the UN emphasizing gender equality and empowering of all women and girls, lets ensure inclusivity of women when planning trainings, designing credit collateral, ensure equality in wages for women as for men, ensure women are as much equipped with tech knowledge as men to enable e-commerce.