Securing Better Land Rights for Women Farmers in Kenya and Burkina Faso

11 September 2019 | Douglas Donnellan

In Kenya and Burkina Faso, accessing land for agriculture can be a major challenge for women due to poor governance and gender inequality. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, women in many African countries make up nearly 60 percent of the family farming labor force, yet are often unrepresented in the legal process of securing land ownership. This makes some women farmers susceptible to losing the legal rights to their agricultural enterprise. Improving these rights may be critical not only for curbing hunger, but also for investments in better soil management practices.