Women and Trade in Africa : Realizing the Potential

Regional trade in Africa can play a
vital role in diversifying economies and reducing dependence
on the export of a few mineral products, in delivering food
and energy security, in generating jobs for the increasing
numbers of young people, and in alleviating poverty and
promoting a shared prosperity. Women play a key role in
trade in Africa and will be essential to Africa's
success in exploiting its trade potential. In many countries
in Africa, the majority of small farmers are women, and they
produce crops such as maize, cassava, cotton, and rice that
have enormous potential for increased trade between African
countries and with the global market. Women are also
involved in providing services across borders, such as
education, health, and professional services, including
accountancy and legal services. Hundreds of thousands of
women cross borders in Africa every day to deliver goods
from areas where they are relatively cheap to areas in which
they are in shorter supply. Yet, policy makers typically
overlook women's contribution to trade and the
challenges they face. This volume brings together a series
of chapters that look at the ways that women participate in
trade in Africa, the constraints they face, and the impact
of those constraints. It seeks to extend the rather small
amount of analytical work that has been devoted to this
issue and to encourage researchers, especially in Africa, to
look more carefully at the specific challenges women face.
The chapters look at the conditions and challenges faced by
three broad groups: informal cross border traders; women who
participate in the production of traded goods and services,
ranging from rural farmers of cotton to professional
activities such as legal and accountancy services; and women
entrepreneurs with dominant ownership of exporting
companies. The book highlights the importance of identifying
and removing the conditions that prevent women from
exploiting the full potential of trading activities. This
report is organized as follows: chapter one gives
introduction; chapter two presents barriers, risks, and
productive potential for small-scale traders in the Great
lakes region; chapter three focuses on unshackling women
traders: cross-border trade of Eru from Cameroon to Nigeria;
chapter four focuses on women cross-border traders,
challenges, and behavior change communications; chapter five
gives the gender dimension of Uganda's cotton sector;
chapter six focuses on services trade and gender; chapter
seven focuses on gender in the tourism industry: the case of
Kenya; chapter eight presents shape up and ship out?: gender
constraints to growth and exporting in South Africa; and
chapter nine presents trade and gender in Tanzania: what
matters-participation or outcomes?.