The Contribution of African Women to
            Economic Growth and Development : Historical Perspectives
            and Policy Implications, Part I, The Pre-colonial and Colonial Periods

Akyeampong, Emmanuel; Fofack, Hippolyte

The Contribution of African Women to Economic Growth and Development : Historical Perspectives and Policy Implications, Part I, The Pre-colonial and Colonial Periods

Autores

Akyeampong, Emmanuel

Fofack, Hippolyte

Editor

World Bank, Washington, DC

Descripción

Bringing together history and economics, this paper presents a historical and processual understanding of women's economic marginalization in Sub-Saharan Africa from the pre-colonial period to the end of colonial rule. It is not that women have not been economically active or productive; it is rather that they have often not been able to claim the proceeds of their labor or have it formally accounted for. The paper focuses on the pre-colonial and colonial periods and outlines three major arguments. First, it discusses the historical processes through which the labor of women was increasingly appropriated even in kinship structures in pre-colonial Africa, utilizing the concepts of "rights in persons" and "wealth in people." Reviewing the processes of production and reproduction, it explains why most slaves in pre-colonial Africa were women and discusses how slavery and slave trade intensified the exploitation of women. Second, it analyzes how the cultivation of cash crops and European missionary constructions of the individual, marriage, and family from the early decades of the 19th century sequestered female labor and made it invisible in the realm of domestic production. Third, it discusses how colonial policies from the late 19th century reinforced the "capture" of female labor and the codification of patriarchy through the nature and operation of the colonial economy and the instrumentality of customary law. The sequel to this paper focuses on the post-colonial period. It examines the continuing relevance and impact of the historical processes this paper discusses on post-colonial economies, and suggests some policy implications.

Palabras clave

ACCESS TO LAND, ACTIVE PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN, AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION, ALCOHOL, ALLIANCES, ANTHROPOLOGIST, ANTHROPOLOGISTS, ANTHROPOLOGY, APARTHEID, BLACK WOMEN, BREADWINNER, CAPITALISM, CASH CROP, CASH CROPS, CHILDHOOD DISEASES, CHILDREN PER WOMAN, CITIZENS, CIVIL LAW, CIVILIZATION, COLONIALISM, COMPENSATION, CONCUBINES, COURT, COURTS, CULTURAL CHANGE, CULTURAL DIFFERENCES, CULTURAL VALUES, CULTURES, CUSTODY, CUSTOM, CUSTOMARY LAW, DEMOGRAPHIC PRESSURES, DEPENDENCE, DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, DEVELOPMENT POLICY, DIASPORA, DISABILITY, DISADVANTAGED WOMEN, DISCOURSE, DISCRIMINATION, DISEASES, DIVORCE, DOMINANCE, DOWRY, ECONOMIC CHANGE, ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT, ECONOMIC EXPLOITATION, ECONOMIC GROWTH, ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES, ECONOMIC PROGRESS, ECONOMIC STATUS, ECONOMICS, EDUCATION FOR GIRLS, EDUCATION OF GIRLS, EDUCATION SYSTEMS, EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES, EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM, EDUCATIONAL SYSTEMS, EMANCIPATION, EMPOWERING WOMEN, EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN, ETHNICITY, ETHNOGRAPHIC DESCRIPTIONS, EXPLOITATION OF WOMEN, EXPLORERS, EXTENSION, FAMILIES, FAMILY LAW, FARMERS, FARMS, FEMALE, FEMALE LABOR, FEMALE LABOR FORCE, FEMALE LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION, FEMALE WORKERS, FEMALES, FERTILITY, FERTILITY RATES, FISH, FOOD SUPPLIES, GENDER, GENDER ASPECTS, GENDER BIAS, GENDER DISCRIMINATION, GENDER EQUALITY, GENDER GAP, GENDER GAPS, GENDER INEQUALITY, GENDER NORMS, GENDER PARITY, GENDER RELATIONS, GENDER ROLES, GIRLS, GLOBAL EFFORT, HOME, HOMES, HOUSEHOLDS, HOUSING, HUMAN BEINGS, HUMAN CAPITAL, HUMAN POPULATIONS, HUMAN RACE, HUMAN RESOURCES, HUNTING, HUSBAND, HUSBANDS, IMMIGRANT, IMMIGRANT WOMEN, IMMIGRANTS, IMMIGRATION, INDIGENOUS WOMEN, INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION, INEQUITIES, INFANT, INFANT MORTALITY, INHERITANCE, ISLAMIC LAW, JOURNAL OF MARRIAGE, JUSTICE, KINSHIP, KINSHIP STRUCTURES, LABOR MARKET, LABORERS, LABOUR MARKETS, LAND TENURE, LEGAL REFORM, LEGAL STATUS, LIMITED RESOURCES, LITERACY, LIVING STANDARDS, LOW-INCOME COUNTRIES, MALARIA, MARGINALIZATION, MARRIAGES, MASS EDUCATION, MATRIARCHY, MEASLES, MENSTRUATION, MIGRANT, MIGRANT GROUPS, MIGRANT WORKERS, MIGRATION, MIGRATIONS, MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS, MINORITY, MONOGAMY, MOTHER, NATION BUILDING, NATIVE WORKERS, NATURAL RESOURCE, NATURAL RESOURCES, NORMS, NURSE, PATRIARCHIES, PATRIARCHY, PEACE, PHILOSOPHY, PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT, POLICY DISCUSSIONS, POLICY IMPLICATIONS, POLICY RESEARCH, POLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPER, POLITICAL POWER, POLYGYNY, POPULATION MOVEMENTS, POTENTIAL CONTRIBUTION, POWER, PRIMARY EDUCATION, PROCREATION, PRODUCTIVITY, PROFESSIONAL WOMEN, PROGRESS, PROPORTION OF GIRLS, PUBERTY, REFUGEES, RELIGION, REPRODUCTION, RESPECT, RITES, RITUALS, RUBELLA, RURAL AREAS, SECONDARY SCHOOLS, SEX, SEXUAL DIVISION OF LABOR, SEXUALITY, SINGLE MEN, SLAVERY, SOCIAL CHANGE, SOCIAL HISTORY, SOCIAL NORMS, SOCIAL OPPORTUNITIES, SOCIAL ORGANIZATION, SOCIAL STATUS, SOCIETIES, SOCIETY, SOCIOLOGY, SOILS, SPOUSES, STATUS OF WOMEN, SUBORDINATION OF WOMEN, SUBSISTENCE AGRICULTURE, SUBSISTENCE FARMING, SYMBOLS, TECHNICAL TRAINING, TEMPORARY MIGRANTS, TEXTILES, TOWNS, TRADITIONAL SOCIETIES, TUBERCULOSIS, UNIONS, UNMARRIED WOMEN, VILLAGES, VIOLENCE, WAR, WARS, WDR, WIFE, WILL, WIVES, WOMANHOOD, WOMEN IN AGRICULTURE, WORKING CLASS, YOUNG MEN, YOUNG WOMEN