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National sectoral report for Namibia - Women, agriculture and rural development
Publisher: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Author: LoriAnn Girvan Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Rural Development
Type: Report
Date: Rome 1995
Keywords: Farming systems, Demography , Livelihoods, Economic policies, Inequality, decision making, access to employment, poverty, rural women.
Location in CRTDA: Available at http://www.fao.org/docrep/x0174e/x0174e01.htm#P79_1404
Since it gained independence in 1990, Namibia has made considerable strides towards improving the lives of its rural population. Provision of water, construction and upgrading of roads, and a revitalised health and education system have all been priorities of the national government. With the election of local and regional authorities in December 1992, many Namibians have local representation for the first time. However, in addition to service provisions, the nation faces the complex challenge of promoting viable economic development for rural people. A century of colonial practices of land dispossession, exploitation of labour, and underdevelopment has resulted in impoverished black rural areas. Both the German and South African colonizers created ethnically-based reserves and restricted movement into the settler zone in order to limit productivity of African farmers and to force rural men to provide cheap labour for mines, commercial farms, fishing enterprises and urban businesses. The features of the labour reserve economy persist today. In some regions, the prevalence of outward migration has resulted in rural households consisting mainly of the elderly, women and young children.
Although many households rely heavily on remittances or wages of family members employed in urban areas, the responsibility for food production and preparation and the overall wellbeing of the household, continues to fall on women. The 1991 census reveals that women account for 59% of all those engaged in skilled and subsistence agricultural work. Indeed, rural females comprise the largest demographic group in Namibia (see Table 1). Yet, they remain disadvantaged by unequal access to land, labour, agricultural services and assets, natural resources and employment opportunities. Rural women are also underrepresented in decision-making and leadership positions.
Policies have yet to adequately take account of the multiple roles of Namibian women as farmers, food providers and income earners. Effective policy reforms are in part constrained by the dearth of gender-based statistics and qualitative research on gender roles and relations.1 The United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women, to be held in Beijing in 1995, provides a timely impetus to review and assess progress in integrating the problems of rural women in development policies and strategies. This report, commissioned by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, considers gender imbalances in the social and political systems and economic processes which underpin agricultural and rural development in Namibia. It further highlights activities and programmes of the government, non-governmental sector and the international community which aim to enhance the productive capacity and social welfare of rural women. The statistics and information presented in the report have been drawn from previous studies, including socio-economic research and feasibility studies, as well as from interviews with representatives of government departments, non-governmental organisations, and international agencies which work with rural women.2 Supporting data is compiled in the Appendix Tables. The author used feedback from a consultative workshop with regional and national NGO and extension staff to refine the analysis and to evaluate existing programs and future recommendations. The findings have been incorporated in The Namibia National Report for the Fourth World Conference on Women, which assesses the situation of women throughout the country.
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