The role of women in economic development in areas of West Africa freed from onchocerciasis

WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION ONCHOCERCIASIS COi\],IROI IROGRA}N'M IN IIM VOITA R]ITER BASIN AREA ECONOMIC DE\TEIOHVIEN'I UNIT ocP/Eco/78.7O THE RO],E OF \IIOME}T IN ECONOITIC DEVEI,O}I\MNT ]N ,IIIEAS OF V,MST AFRICA T'RETD FROM ONCHOCMCilSIS by Mireille SORGHO-.IA3OSStr ORGANISATION MONDIALE DE LA SANTE ORIGIN.II : FRENCH Or.ragad.ougou, September 1978 TIID ROI,E 0F IdOUiEN ILt SCONOLIIC DE]irlrIOPLiEHT rN AREAS OF WESI AFR]CA TBEED tr'ROYI ONCi{OCM.CIASIS IMRODUCTION I. Soclal and. economic status of women in nrral areas II. Action progranrme for the integation of women in development (") Choice of priorities (u) Integrated action (") Impact of appropriate technolory (a) Organi-zation and uanagement of cooperatives (") National support and orternal aid IfI. Ihe ob.'iectives IV. Role of womenls movements CONCIUSION -2- INTRODUCTION At a time when national polieies are being developed. to solve the socioeconouie prohlems of the countries covered by the Onchocerciasis -c-oli=?I hogrnnme (Berrin, Ghana, rvory coast, Inali, Itrlger, rogo and uppervoJ--ta/, people are begirrning to rea]jze the predonrinant role of women ind.evelopment. This change i-n attitudes is bringing women out of the ghettothey entered as a result of the many upheavals rvhich Mrican society has rrnd.ergone over the centuries. fhe first steps towards the iroprovement of wonents living condltions necessari-Iy lnvolve a change ln mentality and institutions. An analysis ofthe situation by regiorr and. by country sirows the urgent need for freshplar:ning concentratlng on :r;ral d.evelopment, health and nutrition education, and the integration of women in the development actlrrities now under way orplar:ned in the regions freetl frorn onchocerciasls. Nevertheless, if a nev{type of development is to be suceessful it must be based not on riva1rybetween men and womenr but on nrutual rmderstanding and farrily solidarily.The failure of certain sectoral approaches brings out the neld fo, inte-grated action i-nvolving the entire population. The application of moderr.technology to lighten the burd.ensome d.ai1y tasks of women in rlral- areasshould nake it easj-er for the trromen to take part in development activ:ities. As develop:nent must be comprehensive, the sociaJ-, health arrd. educationalaspects need to be consi-dered as a whole. Consequently, women need to learrrthe essentials i.n the field of education (functional literacy, hy;i";;r-"t"ll,in the socio-eultr:ral fi-eId (nutritlonr,relations wj-th f,hg family, spare timeactiviti-es), and in the econom-i-c fleld'(i;;;ffi;tion of nerv a6rlculturaltechniques, use of ineome, sav-ings, Ioans, ete.) ir trrey are to participatefu1ly in development projects. These nevr approaci:es ,reld. to be supported byappropriate national policies and i-nternational cooperation so as to mobilizethe femal-e populati-ons concerned and. get them to participate. I. Social arrd economic status of women in nrral- The rigidity of eertain aratrimonial systems (polygamy, rslamic 1aw,christianity) is seriously llpedlns the advancment of women in vlest rfrica, P*-l-:""::* them i-nto instabllity and economic dependence. Marry coqntries(Lta1i, Niger, Togo, etc.) *" ,L* making efforts, partieularly throughlegislatiogr to rened.y some of the abuses to which women are al-I too oftensuoJected (age. of naffiage, dissolution of marriage, rerrj-sion of law ofproperty, etc.). $rtrlle ihe wrlter does not wish to take up a posltj-on foror a8ainst arly parti-cular matrimonial system, it would seem that polygamy, w-hich tends to predomlnate in nrrar areas, i-s not the best way of achieirj-ngthe fu1l d.eveloprcent of the femi Iy gnit in iriew of the many emotlonal an6econorui-c problems 1t creates. While the womarr.ts role as mother and wrife has a-lvrays been recogr:-i-zed.without question, the lnportance of her economic role, fundamental though itis, has sti1l not yet been fu11y accepted.. -3- fn tra&iti"onaI societies, internal trade used. to be entirely hand,ledby women, and the und'eniable financial power this gave thera allowed thenmore freedom to arrarlge their affaj-rs. rhe trarrsifionat pu=ioa-*" are nowerperienclng has overturned. the existing structures and created an irnbala.nca =^11?-1'strlbution of duties. As the irading and marketing of agricultgralprooucts became a matter for nen, women have gradually been red.uced. to m-inorroles' Because they have lost air opportuni-tJ or * ]-o"or", thelr financi-al-dependence has increased and. become total. II. Ac for the int step towards their native the countries, New cri-teria need to be d.efined for choosing action prograrrmes so as tobring social- progress into hazmony with eco?onic 6rowth. -[oo mar:.y develop-nent projects are geared to d.ireci returrrs (increase in production, improve-ment j-n agricultural techniq,res) and ignore the social- aspects vrhlch j.nvol_vetoo much recula'ing expenditure. [he one-sidedness of the projects has 1ed.to a ilead end, and there is a need. for a new approach in plar::eing vrhich willi-ncLud'e the economi e r soeial arrd cultural aspects in a comprehensiveproSralnme. Now that the i-ntegratlon of women in development is recogrrized as apriority, ways must speedily be for.urd to lighten their workload and make iteasier for them to take pa=l ir. cornmunity actirriti"s and then d.o away withthe separatisn whi-ch is holding baek the development of nrral e_r,eES. (") Choice of prioritles 1. l,rlater rhe essentlar- element for improving the ]iv:ing conditions ofwomen arid children in rural areas is rratei. A rr.ral water resou?cespoli-cy has gradrialry been set up witrE-:[Ee seven countries:operations to locate and exploli mdergrowrd vteter resources in lrfla1i ipro.nlsion'of water supply pb:otu, generally we11s, in upper volta andTogo; etc. Neverthel"9", irruse facilities are stiIl rar-rrom adequateand 'romen "": :ii+l obliged. to camy water for long aistancer G;=;;;cases 20 lm daily). Ilater supply is also associated. w-ith env:Lronmenta]sanitation 4easures which affeet- the nutritlonal- and hea-1th status offami 1ies. Efforts need to be oade to ease womenrs domestic work,exanple, the introduction of grincting m:iIIs to replace the aruagery orthe pestle and mortar, or thelse of carts for carrying wood.. Thelntroduction 6t new techr::iques will enable better use to be uade offemale labour. 3, trvomen are the pi-11ars of a^r_1 education, The firstsolving 6ducational problems is to make womerr li_terate inlanguage. lVlany campaigrs are being rrndertaken in each of 2. -4- ln most cases supported by well-organized vroments movements.(such as the local conmlttees of the National Unlon of f'Iomen in NTali). [here ls a need to develop agricultural extension progrrr'.lmes geared to the econo&lc role which j-s to be restored to l\Iomen and not only to the femify €coronsr fo inprove the production of food crops (treatnent of seeds, storagl, preserration) and. the raising of livestock, women neecl appropriate trainiirg that will lead them to improve thei-r work and make it more productive. fhe improved marketing of food prod.ucts antl typically fmale hand.lcrafts (nmts, basketse etc.) should malte it easier for women to take part in the interned.iate structures (cooperatives) from which they are general-Iy exclud.eil. fhe imbalance in the distribution of profits only makes things worse, and. a combined educational a:rd political approach is needi:d. to reintroduce vromen into the modern cycle of trad.e and distribution. 4. fncr@,se in woments monetary income In the traditlonal soci-eties of lYest Africa, agrieultural production depend.s oh woil€rro [he colonj-a1 period upset.the pattern of distribution of work by involving m:n in produetion (acquisition of the plough) and. by refusing rromen the mea:'rs to foIlow suit. When their prod.uction stopped. inereasing because tliey were using inappro- priate crop-growing technigues, women gradually lost their financial autonouy. It is therefore necessary to increase womenls independence by identifyins new roles in production for them in the lieht of the capacities arrd. resortrces of each countrXr. (t) Intesrated aclion Although i-t seems that an integrated method. ggaranteeing the equa-1 distribution of tasks and benefits between all meubers of the femify is being developed in some villages (in Upper Vo1ta, for exa.urple, the training centres for rtmal craftsmen in Bobo-Dioulasso p1.an to train women in the processing of products arld. in hand.icrafts), efforts in this direction are stil1 half-hearted. Tntensification of functional literacy prograrnmes and occupational training without discrin,-lnation by sex is essential to the development of ruraJ- &re&s. At the saJrs f,ims, agrieultural trainlng for women stressing the improvernent of food crops (witH priorlty for meeting the nutritionaL needs of the potrn-rlation) and better use of modern techniques (carts, yoked. arri-ma1s, fertilizers, etc,) would help to restore to women an economic role complementing the role of the men. The notlon that wonen have a social- role and men arr economlc role i-s well out of date, and it is clear that efforts to i-mprove sanitation, health and nutrj-tion will be effective only if they are supported by the eornmunity as a wtrole. fhere ls no d.oubt that the introduction arrd increased provision of iocioecononic facilities (we11sr millsr materrrj-ty centres, dispensaries, etc.) through the efforts of the entire coruil;r:.ity would lighten some of the woment s d.omesti-c chores and enable them to make a more active contribution -5- to development. Integrated. aetion must therefore be properly understood;it presupposes a radical change in attitud.es'to get ria of tire taboos and' prohibitions r,vhich are j-upeding progress. An awareness of the confl-icts and problems is bor.md. to help to establish nerv relartionshlps based. onsolidarj-ty. (") [tre lmportance assi-gned to 6pproprlate technology enphaslzes theinequality betrreen men atrd wonlene Unti-I recently rr=Lr d.Lvelolmentprogrnmmes were- rarety concerned with the fate of women, more from neglectthan from hostili-ty. trIll:i1e some modern techni-ques such as the use ofyoked' animals in agz:iculture do not noticeably lighten the vrorkf-oad of women,there is no denylng that the introductj-on of some improved agricultgraltools and instnments (corn e111, rice thre"terr-"oti." *i")'"l,rro,:ou a bigcontribution to improulng their iirdrrg conditions. Nevertheless, it wourd beortremely expenslve to acquire these new tectgriques in view of the lowmonetarJr income of women in rural e.T€&so ft is conceivable that, with thetime saved' and the increased. production aehieved by certai-n applj-cations ofappropriate technoloryr women woul-d be able to organize some srcau renumera-tlve buslnesses that could. augment the famiry incorae or to set up coopera-tives that could' compete with certain traders rnrho abuse their oumership ofeqtdtrment. A. pilot project for the rrred.uction of food wastage in rura-1areas in Malitr plans to assist associations of village women to make betteruse of their time so that they can pay for the ,r"" oI maehines for processlngcereals and inprove the living standards of their fprniliss, IIew techn-lquesare therefore beinq:-1!ro$uced, albeit s1ow1y. Above all it is i-uportant toavoid' the danger o{ gJ-i-enating sti11 further the women who are caught up j;1a 'ricious ci-rcle of debts. (a) InrPraetlce women are still mair:Iy responsi-ble for prod.uction and distri-outl-on Itof agricultural products and harr.d.icrafts) in the rnillage narketsr arldit is only right that they should be able to play a d.eclsive role in theorganization and management of cooperatives: up to now this role has notbeen recognized, a factor that'has helped to lrelp them dependent on the menwho alone had access to lncome. Ikre priflcipal objectives of the eooperative are: development of uutual 71$1 reauction of. the rol-e of niddl-etaenr and benefit from certa-in facilitles(shops, vrorkshops) which require heavy capital outlay. Above all, bygranting certain cred.its the eooperative leads to an improvement in economicproductiv:ity. fhis trend should therefore bring about a substantial changeln the eonditi-on of vromen in rural (and urban) ;e;" *rd ;J; It easier forthem to beeome integrated in the national economy. rhe success of ruralcooperatives tiepend's on the thorough traini-ng of the entire population incooperatirre actiirities so as to get rid of the ercj.sting inequalities withoutereating new ones. -6- (") National supporb and extertrral aid Arry action progr€ume aiming to integrate women in the economi c development of the areas freed from onchocerciasis coniains priorities in line with the national policy of the cor.intry concerrred. For example, there are many problems associated vrith water, sanitatj-on and rural development whlch ean be solved. lnJ.y by mobilizing and d,istrlbutlng national- resources. ftre forruJ.ation and. implenentation of an actlon programme for the ad.vancement of women requires State participatlon at three 1eve1s: (f) At the nationa]- ].evel (fana tenure systems, organ-i-zation'of recepti@, d.efinition of a water policy, etc.). (Z) At the regional- Ievel. Varies accord.ing to the extent to vdrlch the administration of the regions concerned in each cormtry is centralized or decentralized.. li7ith the support of the staff on the spot(nurses, teachers, agricultural organi-zer")l tn" loca1 arlministrations take part in health and. nutrition ed.ucation campaigns at regional or even village 1eve1. G) At the institutional level. Responsibility for d.eveloping the areas freed from onchocerciasis is sometiues entrusted to ari autonomous or semi-autonomous State agency (suen as the Volta Va-11eys Developrent Authority in Upper Volta), which prepares j-ts ovnr action poli-cy for the integration of wortenr fn addition to nationa-I initiatives, the d.evelopuent of an action prosLFmme on behalf of women generally receives exteryral aia (international specialized agencles, bilateral aid, NGOs). A project for riequal aecess for women to education and eulturerf is being conducted in Upper Volta r,vith thepartieipation of UltrESCO, and a national progranme 6f fam'i fy wellbeing vras laurrched il Iogo in A977 with the participation of flo, VrIFib, UNfCEF and UNF?A. IfI. [he ebiectives 1. fngrease in food. production f1kre role of women in agriculture has always been consj-d.erab1e. Inpractice, it is the woman who is the "food producertr for the familyts needs. \{ith the developfrent of eash crops, the traditional econony of self- sufficiency was upset' The replacement of cul-tivation for the family by cultivation for the market brought \4rith it serious consequences: ma'lnulsjf,iep(of women ano children) and unaErfeeding soon appear oncJ sto"ks are enhausted.(particularly on account of the drought in the Sahel zones). ft is essential therefore to find ways of increasing the yieId. of food crops to meet the nutritional need.s of the femify and to buiId. up reserr/es for the periods between harnests. Only the diversification of basic food. crops, supported by national progralnmes, will malre it possible to move gradually from subsistence fa:mlng towards the prod.uction of crops for extrlort. -7- 2, Falqer distributj-on of i_ncome In the trad.itional soci-eties of lVest Africa the Er'oflEn used to be responsible for the production, processing a.rtd marketing of agricul-turalproducts: this gave her sufficient income to keep her iamily and to affordpresents, IIen gradua-1ljr entered the arena, j:rtroducing cash crops arrd the use of mod'ezrr techniqucer Ihe financial power of the msn increased. and they acquired.declslon-making povrer. Conflicts arose because of the competition betvreen men artd women to eatrr money and meet new need.s. Vfhile tlrts development i3the distrlbution of work is d.eprlrring women of their financial independence,it is involrring the.men in a series of need.s that are malring themincreasingly dependent on credit (purchase of equipment and fertilizers,personal needs, etc.). As the averpge income of rlral femilies in'tricstAfrica is already very 1ow and lmequally tListributed, it j-s essential toi,ilprove the d.istributlon of tlie v,'ork and creative responsibilities of eachlnd.1vidua1, The ad'option of certa-in lr:novations (agricultural training) or the useof modern techniques declded. on jointly and-benefiting each neiber of thefamil} would have the effect or resoiving many of the tenslons and creatlngonce again a climqte of nutual- trust. 1. Red.uction of regional d.isparlties and control of migration Because of the uneYen regional d.istribution of agricultural potential, spontaneous nlgration from one distriet to another is not uncorm.oni thisleads to stagnation of the econouy in the abandoneil d.ist=i"i"-La to "serles of complex problems in the settlement areas. One way to promote the d.evelopment of the land freed from onchocerciaslsis to estab1ish new settlements in each country which are sr-rfficiently *;ii--organized to provide a fair distribution of resorr""" betrveen regions.Etforts in this direction would. prove ineffective unless tire parii"ip;tio"of vromen in the transfomation of rural a.reas were taken into account. The implementation of Brojects to eolonize new 1and involves acti-vities l:--1i"u'op.reception areas (irrigatj-on, road.s, land crearance, reafforesta-tirn), social facirities (schools, di-spensarles, materrtity centrJ");-il";ertension progremme for v,romen that uri11 give a1i the women settlers afeellng of solidarity and r,vays of acting jointly to lmproye their daily llfe. Erbension viork for women as part of a programae of integrated rura-idevelopment emphasizes the cardinaJ- role pliyuI uy women in lgriculture. 1: ? =:""1t of the modernization of family farms and certain innovations(1ntroduction of new agrlcultural methods and factors of production), tnemgartized' mobilizatlon of women is capable of increasing the productirrity ofany region arr.d at tite same time of red.ucing d.isparities in lncome wi-thin aregion (as 1ow i-ncome is largely due to t-oiv agricul-tural produ"ti#;) ;;between regions. (rvhen fertile land^ is abandoned for overpopulated arid lessproductive Iand.). -B- There is no d.oubt that efforts to increase womenls partieipatlon in rural develolment oould. help to slow dovvn the rnigra.tory m.ovements whlch are causing serious social, econorrlc and political pro'blems and i:r most eases are lncreasing the hardships of r;vortrer. and child.ren, 4, Development of research In rriet'r of the importance of the ohar:.ges being irnd.ertaken in nra1 areas on behalf of women, the new fonnulas ssssrnmsnfled. mrrst be appropriate and the technlques reliable. It is therefore essential that the effective- ness of the extenslon work caru:ot be ea11ed. into question by wottrerl. Io win the womenls confidence it is necessary to try out certaln j-nnovations very thoroughiy before introd,ucing thema.. Close cooperati-on between research departments and rural development prograrmes woulcl make it possible to icientify and remove the difficu].ties hold.ing back the advaneement of v\rottrerro Some research progrenmes to be r.md.ertaken: Iechnologica-l research so as to lessen the d.rudgery of womenls work and. provide thmr with a higher income. Educatj-ona-l research to i-mprove the quality of training progrsr,mes and. ertension work for women. Health research directed. ma'inl}r at traditional- med.icine and. its use. Nutrltional research based on l-ocal products so as to provide a ffir mothers and children. Obviously the success of a rr-rral develotrment progranrme d.epends on eomprehensive.activities which take into account the lnterd.epend.ence of al1 the problems (econonlc, sociological, health problems, etc.). As the areasfreed from onchocerciasis cannot develop in a rm-lforrn nanner, however, it is neeessarXr to take into account variations in the social and econorn-lc enrriron:nents of the countries, and jndeed of'the reg:Lons, so as to adjust theeontribution of women to the loca1 situati-on. IY. RoIe of woments movements The basic problem-s confronting Afri-can v/omen in the areas of \lrestAfri-ca freed from onehocertlasis - vromen who are generally unalvare of theirrights and d'o not lceow how to become involved in the development of thepresent-day world - can be solved. ody through cllalogue and concerted. efforts.ft is for this reason that national wonents ilovements have been set up in most of the eor:ntries. Arr association that is sufficiently vrerll orgaulzed and well stmctured can play a decislve role in creating awareness anong vromen and mobilizing thera to achieve better living condj-tions, prorided. thatlts lead'ers real-ize that their activities should not be limited to d.emand.sor to charitable works. -9- lhe chief ebjectives of a womenls movernent are the ad.vanceraent and activepartlcipation of women in national development. Y,Iomen ean contrlbute tohealth actirrities.(materna-l and child freaftir), educational actirrities(tunctionar literifr) ana devero*ment acti.riti";-(;;;,*i;y-;;;.i"pmrent, cooperatives, etc.) within the framevrork of various national prograrnmes.If the movment is to be effective, its major concern must be to bring about a rapicl improvenent in the condition of women, who in nrra-1 areas Ilve in extremely d.ifficult circr:mstances. Some ozanples of woments movemer:.ts: The lfPtigr.r.a1 U+ion gf .Tlomen in Mali (UNFL{), forxrded in 1958, has had. aconstltution si-nce 1974. IT has imnedlatee medi-ul-te:m and long-terr objectives in the sociocu]turaI and econonlc fields at both national and international Ievei. ft canies out various actirrities v*rich are supported by the State. lhe UNFT'I operates at the rriIlage, dlstrlct and reglonal 1evel. Ithas campaigned for the spacirlg of births, and. is now d.evoting itsefforts to the suppression of polygariry and certaj-n practices involvjngroutilation (f emate circulccisj_on, etc. ) . - (ApU) is of more :,ecent date. ftseonstitution and rules ana its progrrmme of rvork were ad.opted in tgTT. [he objectives of tkis Association are: the stj.:mulation, nobili- zatlon and. advareceurent of women for the defence of their i-nterests. Avariety of development actirrities have been undertaken witl: theeffective participation of women: organization of couisese hydrolog.rcal and agricultural projects, eonstruction of welIs, etc o ' fhe $ay Wonenls Association is plannlng to exploit plots of ]-and forgrowing r:lce and oltra. (nnv)" As long ago as 1925 theFederatj-on analysed. the si-tuation of vromen in rural areas ar:.d. recom.end'ecl the integration of women in the development process on an equal footing with.men. A varieiy of resolutions (on tnl famify, entrad1tional courts) were adopted. Since 1977 the Federation nal'be6n conducting an inforaation campaign for mem. and vromen in nrral EJre&se CONCIUS]ON A study of the situatj-on reveals the many inequali-ties between men and. women j-n Vtrest Africa arrtt the need for i nevr concept of economic developmentln the areas freed from onchocerciasis. There is an urgent need for each country to define economic developmentln the light of its natural and. hr.rman ="sor,rl"s (il;;J-il;;*;;)-;il;;ovvn needs, A serles of profgranrmss for the advancemrent of women in the fieldSof- economics, nira-1 development, hea-1th, social affairs and. education would ma.he a considerable eontribution to improving the lirring cond.itions of thei::habltants. -10- As the first stage in the d.evebpment of the areas freed from oncho- cerciasis is essentially agricultural in nature, there is no d.oubt that lf serious ertension campaigns were cond.ucted. and. women were given certalnfacilitles to acquire the ueans of production, the inmred.late effects wouldbe to.increase pel eapita agricultural production and to encourage 1ocaI womenls 1abor.u, thus eheckj-ng the migration from rr:ral areas. lhe second stage could consist of providlng v,romen in rural areas with speciaU-zecl trairring in a varietlr of actiyities (inaustryr handicrafts, rymi-ng of shop6 or cooperatives) that are bowr.d up with the clevel-opnent ofthe :r-:ral_ E^Ie&sr fl:e najor d.ifficulty is thatr.to implement such a wide progranrms efactivities for the advancement of women, there must be a national determina-tion to enforce the new priorities. rt is not posslble to ignore the'poIltical and econonlc constralnts in each of the cor.mtries concerned. IVl1reil1e S orgho-Laf os s e