Women farmers in the Western DemocraticRepublic of Congo (DRC) bear the disproportionate burden ofunpaid care work. Women spend less time than men on theirplots and more time on domestic work. The authors use acombination of consultations in the field, desk research,and primary data collection to understand the patterns oftime allocation in rural households in Western DRC. Thegender differences in time allocation are striking where thefemale plot managers do 1 hour and 52 minutes more ofdomestic work per day than male plot managers. The genderdifferences are higher in male-headed households, and femaleplot managers spend significantly more time taking care ofchildren when farming or going to market than their malecounterparts. The agricultural productivity of female plotmanagers is on average twenty six percent lower than that ofmale plot managers. Having young children is associated withlower productivity for women but not for men. With thesupport of various stakeholders, the authors will pilot theprovision of childcare services in the targeted region. Theauthors will rigorously evaluate the importance of theseservices on women’s time allocation to productiveactivities, as well as their productivity.
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