An Analysis of the Factors Influencing Women's Control and Access to Agriculturally Productive Resources, with a Focus on T-A Kalembo and Chanthunya in the Balaka District in Southern Malawi

Author(s): T Biseck, S Kumwenda and L Kalumbi

Abstract:

The primary driver of household and national food income and nutrition security in Malawi is still agriculture. In the agricultural sector, women make up between 70 and 80 percent of the labour force and generate about 80 percent of the household's food, but they also encounter a number of obstacles when carrying out their agriculture-related tasks (GoM 2015). Due to a multitude of issues, including women's limited access to agriculturally productive resources, the agricultural sector performs considerably below its potential. The forces behind this difficulty include institutional, knowledge-and skill-related, and socially produced. This study sought to determine what factors influence women's control and access to agriculturally productive resources in Malawi's southern region. According to study findings, all of the study area's land is held in a freehold system under a matrilineal inheritance system. Because men are married off to women from neighbouring villages under the lineage system, women have greater access to land than men. But men (the maternal uncle, known as "mwini mbumba" in the area) are in charge of the land. The study also revealed that males are equally responsible for making important decisions on finances, developments, and other matters at both the home and communal levels. According to the findings, societal norms and culture also have an impact on women's access to and control over productive resources.

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Pages: 11-15     |    2 View     |    0 Download