Three of sub-Saharan Africa’s centraleconomic realities motivate this study. First, agricultureis the most important sector in most African economies, onaverage accounting for nearly one-fourth of GDP. Second, theprivate sector is increasingly active in transformingAfrican agriculture and economies. By 2030, agriculture andagribusiness are anticipated to become a US$ 1 trillionindustry in Africa, delivering more jobs, income, andeconomic growth. Third, women make up half of sub- SaharanAfrica’s agricultural labor force on average (and two-thirdsor more in some countries). Yet women’s strong presence inagriculture belies the comparatively weak commercialbenefits they derive from it. Throughout Africa, womenstruggle to enter and operate highly productive andprofitable agricultural enterprises. Their plots of landtend to be smaller, their crops less remunerative, and theiraccess to land, inputs, and finance far more restricted andprecarious than men’s. Africa boasts the highest share of‘entrepreneurs,’ but these women are disproportionatelyconcentrated in the ranks of the self-employed rather thanamong the employers. Women’s productivity is lower thanmen’s, not because they are women, but because informal,smaller firms are inherently less productive, and more womenoperate these types of enterprises. The real challenge inexpanding opportunities and empowering women is not to helpmore women to become small-scale, informal entrepreneurs butto enable them to shift to activities capable of deliveringhigher returns and employing others.
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