When ‘property cannot own property’: women’s lack of property rights in Cameroon
2017 (English)In: African Journal of Economic and Sustainable Development, ISSN 2046-4770, E-ISSN 2046-4789, Vol. 6, no 1, p. 67-85Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
In most of Africa, women constitute the majority of small holder farmers. They are overwhelmingly involved in food production on land leased to them or acquired through family bonds or purchase. This paper examines how the institution of customary marriage connives with Cameroon's gender neutral statutory land tenure legislation to deprive women of access to land. Additionally, the bureaucratic land registration procedure, the gendering of the land tenure legislation, the skewing of the Land Consultative Board in men's favour and farmer/grazer conflicts further undermine women's land rights. To ensure women's collective wellbeing and socioeconomic progress, gender-sensitive, rather than gender-neutral policies are recommended.In most of Africa, women constitute the majority of small holder farmers. They are overwhelmingly involved in food production on land leased to them or acquired through family bonds or purchase. This paper examines how the institution of customary marriage connives with Cameroon's gender neutral statutory land tenure legislation to deprive women of access to land. Additionally, the bureaucratic land registration procedure, the gendering of the land tenure legislation, the skewing of the Land Consultative Board in men's favour and farmer/grazer conflicts further undermine women's land rights. To ensure women's collective wellbeing and socioeconomic progress, gender-sensitive, rather than gender-neutral policies are recommended.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
InderScience Publishers, 2017. Vol. 6, no 1, p. 67-85
Keywords [en]
women's rights, land rights, small holder farming, farmer-grazer conflicts, gender, socio-economic development, female rights, property rights, Cameroon, farmers, grazers, customary marriage, land tenure legislation, grazing, gender-sensitive policies, gender-neutral policies
National Category
Human Geography
Research subject
Economy, Cultural Economy
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-61719DOI: 10.1504/AJESD.2017.082808OAI: oai:DiVA.org:lnu-61719DiVA, id: diva2:1084607
Conference
International Conference on Humanities and Social Sciences, Perspectives on Gender in a Global World: Interdisciplinary Perspectives, University of South-East Europe, Bucharest, Romania, 14–16 May 2015.
2017-03-262017-03-262024-02-27Bibliographically approved