World Bank has found that African women grow 80% of the continent’s food Women entrepreneurs are driving growth in Africa, The New York Times has reported. A recent study by the World Bank suggests that two-thirds of African women are in the workforce, and it is estimated that they grow 80 percent of the continent’s food. However, the article suggests that there are still women’s rights issues to overcome, and taboos that prevent women from being fully integrated into the economy.
The report found that women are usually part of the informal economy, a casual labour market in which wages tend to be lower. Sometimes, they face traditions that prevent them from inheriting farmland and property, which has often been the case in countries like Tanzania and the DCR.
Although countries like Malawi and Liberia have female presidents, female leadership is still rare: just two out of 54 countries are headed by women. The under-representation of women at a political level is a problem that African nations, like the West, must work to overcome, said the World Bank.