Workloads of rural African women: The impact of economic adjustment in Sub‐Saharan Africa

Women's workloads in rural Africa are extremely demanding in terms of time and energy. In a continent where fertility rates are high, literacy levels very low and labour‐saving technologies hardly available, women's duties in reproductive and productive roles are examined and explained, using examples drawn from many countries in Sub‐Saharan Africa. Evidence that women are not receiving their share of the benefits of development, despite their significant contribution to that process, is presented. Economic decline, and the attempts to ameliorate this by economic adjustment measures, have tended further to increase women's workloads. With cuts in government funding, education and health facilities are less available to the rural poor, with the burden of care being transferred to households. In many countries export crop promotion is drawing more fully into the market economy, where their labour is under‐valued and their time ‘stretched’ to give an even longer working day. Gender‐sensitive development policies that fully recognise the multiple roles and needs of women are essential for the future development of sub‐Saharan Africa.