Closing the income gap between male and female agricultural workers: the role of women empowerment in Togo's rural areas

Yevessé Dandonougbo (), Esso-hanam Atake (), Djinta Litaaba-Akila () and Dédé Kouevidjin ()
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Yevessé Dandonougbo: Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Lomé, Togo
Esso-hanam Atake: Department of Economics Sciences, University of Lomé, Togo
Djinta Litaaba-Akila: Department of Economics Sciences, University of Lomé, Togo
Dédé Kouevidjin: Department of Economics Sciences, University of Lomé, Togo

Region et Developpement, 2023, vol. 57, 63-80

Abstract: This paper explores the contribution of women empowerment to the reduction of the gender income gap in rural Togo. In Togo, women bear a disproportionate share of unpaid work - preparation of meals, fetching of water and cleaning, caring for children and elder-ly. The analysis is carried out through an extension of the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition model and is based on data from the 2018 Partnership for Economic Policy (PEP) house-hold survey. Regarding the determinants of farm income, irrigation practices, improved seed use, access to credit, mobile phone, and having a paid job improve farm income of both sexes. Furthermore, for an equal area of land, men's income is significantly higher than women's by about 66%. We found that ideological, religious, ethnic, economic and socio-cultural factors contribute to the increase income gap between male et female agri-cultural workers. Our fin-dings suggest that policies designed to strengthen women's decision-making powers and improve their education levels would be an effective way of boosting their agricultural income. Women's ownership of land titles could serve as an asset for boosting agricultural investment and, consequently, women's income.

Keywords: Income gap; Rural economic development; Women empowerment; Poverty (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I32 J16 J31 O18 O55 Q12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:tou:journl:v:57:y:2023:p:63-80

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