Effects of agriculture intensification on gender relations in Rwanda

Perspectives of women farmers involved in the Land Use Consolidation programme

Abstract

Over the last decade, international development agencies have highlighted agricultural intensification as a strategy to boost economic growth and reduce poverty in sub-Saharan Africa. Rwanda has adopted the Crops Intensification Programme (CIP) since 2007. The implementation of this program involved the initiation of other programs and strategies, including the Land Use Consolidation (LUC) programme as its main pillar. The CIP-LUC programme aims to transform small-scale and subsistence farming into large-scale and market-oriented agriculture, to enhance productivity and improve the wellbeing of those involved in agriculture, who are mostly poor. Drawing from the experience of women farmers involved in farmer’s cooperatives in the Huye and Gisagara Districts of southern Rwanda, this paper aims to understand the effects of agricultural intensification on gender relations and women’s daily lives. Using interviews and focus group discussions, the present findings demonstrate that the change from subsistence farming to capitalist agricultural production affected gender relations, as farm households are required to intensify labour and capital. Consequently, women’s labour is proletarianised, as it is considered as ‘free family labour’. Moreover, it is worth noting that the interaction of gender, class, and government interventionism underpins women’s subordination and exploitation under this capitalist agrarian model.