testifies : “ I used to dry my chilies on the floor and also treat them with water vapor before drying . Now I know that this decreases the quality and causes possible contamination by bacteria and fungi . Drying on the floor takes a lot of time to get well-dried chilies . With the solar chili dryer , we can obtain much better quality in much shorter time and thus obtain better prices on the market . With the increased income , we the women have a better voice in the household . And since we can contribute and help other household members , our children now respect us more .”
4.3 Improve Access to Productive Assets , Support Functions , and Services
Women typically do not own key production resources , such as land , due to social norms and a patriarchal system of inheritance that allocates land to only the male offspring , coupled with a limited savings and investment culture that prevents women from obtaining land through available land markets . Land ownership is key , as it often determines decision-making and control over other productive resources ( inputs , farm equipment , finance , labor ). It has an impact on women ’ s productivity because they are often the last ones able to use those “ family-shared ” resources . This , in turn , has an impact on the production cycle and overall farm productivity .
Strategies to improve women ’ s access to productive assets include encouraging opinion leaders to address the sensitive issue of access to quality land , providing inputs at affordable prices , improving access to finance by fostering the creation and strengthening of non-formal financial institutions , such as village savings and loans associations ( VSLAs ), and creating women groups to improve access to resources and support functions . The following sections provide a few examples from 2SCALE .
Local solar dryers increase chili quality and reduce drying time – Vegetable Partnership , Mali .
Equitable Access to Land Through Sensitization of Leaders – Vegetable Clusters , Mali
In Segou , Mali , as in most West African countries , land is almost exclusively owned by men . Past efforts to improve land access for women – which generally focused on women ’ s civil rights rather than their economic empowerment – have not been effective . Learning from those failures , 2SCALE started by identifying and involving influential men in strategic issues .
From the inception of the formation of a vegetable cluster in Segou , 2SCALE invited Mamary Coulibaly , the traditional chief of Sébougou village , to all meetings pertaining to onion production and local trade , largely attended by women . Coulibaly saw the opportunity for the whole community to have a competitive onion cluster well-linked to major Malian traders and other markets .
After witnessing the constraints faced by women farmers , he advocated on their behalf to the municipality of Sébougou . Because of Coulibaly ’ s influence , in 2015 the municipality agreed to grant 19 ha of fertile land to women associations , an unprecedented move in the history of the village .
Access to Finance Through Non- Formal Institutions – Soybean and Rice Partnerships , Ghana
Fewer women compared to men access credit for investment in agricultural production due to limited access to collateral , fear of formal credit , and low financial literacy . 2SCALE has facilitated access to finance for some value chain actors through linkages to the formal credit system . The support enables them to invest in their various enterprises , thus resulting in increased yields and incomes .
Having witnessed and recognized the challenges associated with accessing credit from the formal sources , 2SCALE is exploring other forms of sustainable financing specifically designed for rural dwellers within the partnerships being facilitated . VSLAs are a form of rural financing suitably designed for rural communities and those excluded from the formal banking system . 2SCALE has reached 3,500 households across the soybean and rice partnerships in Ghana by facilitating youth and women groups to establish over 150 VSLAs as well as strengthening the entrepreneurial and business skills of the selected groups .
In the soybean partnership , 320 women organized into 15 VSLA groups have received 2SCALE support to set up the schemes . The groups have been strengthened in group dynamics issues , financial education , and management of income-generating activities including soy processing . Local volunteers have also been trained to support the groups .
An additional 3,000 ( 2,000 women and 1,000 men ) members of savings groups in the rice partnership are being supported to set up 150 VSLA groups in the scaling phase of the initiative . These groups are linked to Advans Savings
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