Africa

Rights of Women and Access to Land in Sénégal: a Citizenship to be Conquered

The feminization of poverty in Sénégal seems largely related to women's difficulty in accessing resources, notably land. Patrilinear modes of social organization persist despite the existence of laws protecting the rights of women. Several studies have attempted to explain the persistence of gender-based injustice. However, they provide only a partial understanding of the plurality of situations and specific conditions of women. This project seeks to produce knowledge that will be used to advance the effectiveness of women's economic rights in Sénégal.

Marriage system, access to land, and social protection for women: the case of Senegal

This paper present the findings of a field survey, which revealed that women never thought of invoking Islamic laws to advance their interests lest they should antagonise their male relatives and be compelled to forsake key social protections that they have traditionally enjoyed.

“Microcredit and women moneylenders: the shifting terrain of credit in rural Senegal”

This paper analyzes the new role rural Senegalese women play as moneylenders in their agrarian communities. The shifting terrain of local credit institutions parallels contemporary trends in rural development: state-led agricultural cooperatives, which were introduced in 1960, formerly bolstered the position of elite farmers who lent out cash and grain to poor farmers during the dry-season months of scarcity.

“Wolof women, economic liberalization, and the crisis of masculinity in rural Senegal”

As stated in the Abstract, “among Wolof farmers in Senegal's Peanut Basin, patriarchal control of household dependents has diminished in conjunction with economic liberalization, state disengagement, and the formation of rural weekly markets. This article builds on twenty-six months of ethnographic fieldwork to explore a crisis of masculinity expressed by men in their oral testimonies and everyday discourse. In domestic struggles over labor and income, male control over women has decreased in the postcolonial epoch.

Social and economic impacts of land titling programmes in urban and peri-urban areas: international experience and case studies of Senegal and South Africa

This is the final report of a study that sought to assess the social and economic impacts of land titling and home ownership programmes in urban and peri-urban areas of developing countries. These programmes have been widely promoted by governments and international agencies despite limited empirical evidence of their benefits / impacts. Following a literature review, case studies were undertaken in Senegal and South Africa.

Land Tenure and Family Farming in Africa: With Special reference to Senegal, Dakar

After analysing the challenges to agriculture in Africa, this paper shows how agricultural production is defined by farmers and by the public services, describes its main characteristics, and observes and discusses their ramifications for this sector. The significance of land tenure for farmers is examined, along with land policies. Particular attention is paid to the national land law, local government law, the framework agricultural law and constitutional matters.

Women and Land in Africa: Case Study of Senegal

This study analyses the important role played by women in the Senegalese economy through their contribution in agriculture, which remains the key activity and the target of development policy. Such analysis shows that although their contribution is extremely important, it is invisible and not taken into account. Although they toil in the land, women have no right to own it. Land is the property of men. Even when most of the rural men immigrate to developed countries and stay there for many years, they still control the land cultivated by women who are in charge of the families welfare.

Women and Land in Africa: A case study from Senegal

“Access to technical information and gendered NRM [natural resource management] practices: Men and women in rural Senegal”

As stated in the Abstract, “gender differences in knowledge of NRM practices have long been noted in Senegal and throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. An exploration of these differences among a sample of rural Senegalese men and women shows that these differences are, in part, a function of extension agent interventions. The level of knowledge of a set of NRM technologies is associated with contact with three key types of extension agent in rural Senegal: extension team leaders, forestry agents, and women's agents.