Women make up over 50 per cent of the agricultural labour force in many sub-Saharan African countries. During the launch of the Status of Rural Women in Agri-food Systems Report, it was established that about half of the labour force in agriculture is female in several countries.
In general, women account for a greater share of agricultural employment at lower levels of economic development, as inadequate education, limited access to basic infrastructure and markets, high unpaid work burden and poor rural employment opportunities outside agriculture severely limit women's opportunities for off-farm work.