Are men and women affected differently by agricultural liberalisation? If so, how can future policy integrate gender concerns? There is growing recognition that gender and other social issues must be a key consideration for the successful implementation of agricultural liberalisation policies. This report outlines that agricultural market systems are ?gendered? structures and therefore processes of market change will have different impacts on the men and women involved. Moreover, the interplay of gender relations strongly affects the implementation and outcome of liberalisation policies, and an awareness of gender differences is essential in the development of market infrastructure and institutions. In particular, increased support to small-scale traders, legal literacy support, accessible market information and better access to resources such as credit, are essential if women are to benefit.
Experience to date from Sub-Saharan African countries has indicated that women have gained relatively less from agricultural liberalisation than men have. Medium and large-scale commercial farmers, large-scale private traders/wholesalers and processors, and providers of marketing support services have benefited most. But these groups are overwhelmingly male.
