The Agricultural Gender Gap in Sub-Saharan Africa: Magnitude, Drivers, and Policy Directions

Aletheia Amalia Donald and Kibrom Tafere

No 11414, Policy Research Working Paper Series from The World Bank

Abstract: This paper synthesizes country-level decomposition evidence on the gender gap in agricultural productivity across Sub-Saharan Africa, identifying its major drivers and reviewing what works to close it. Gender productivity gaps range between 7 percent and 77 percent across twelve African countries, with male-managed plots yielding higher outputs than those managed by women. Although controlling for the characteristics of farmers, households and plots tends to shrink this gap, a conditional gap of 4 percent to 62 percent persists. The literature also documents an overall gender gap in agricultural production in the range of 18 percent to 61 percent. The largest driver of these gaps is women’s concentration in lower-value crops, followed by their lower use of and returns from labor. Social norms and access to land and financial resources play a crucial role in sustaining and exacerbating these gender disparities. Evidence suggests that targeted programmatic approaches to increasing women’s adoption of cash crops, enhancing their use of labor and other inputs and providing them with tailored skills and information can help close the gender gap in agricultural productivity.

Date: 2026-06-24
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