Women participation in land market remains low—report
A new study has found that more women continue to struggle to participate in the land rental market where land is rented out to tenants to enable both sides to afford household food security and income diversification.
The study, by Mwapata Institute which showed that the gap is decreasing, says the disparity remains significant and capable of affecting women’s economic empowerment.

Titled What Promotes Gender Equity in Land Rental Markets? Evidence from Malawi, it partly attributes the slight drop in the gap to the 2016 Customary Land Act which enables female representation in land committees and land tribunals.
It, however, stressed that to further close the gap there is need to increase women’s control over land and property rights which could result in increased agricultural productivity and economic empowerment.
“Secure women’s access to, use of and control over land and property rights is crucial for women’s economic empowerment and increasing productivity and agricultural commercialisation.
“When women secure land rights, they participate in land rental markets thereby improving household food security and income diversification and alleviating poverty,” reads part of the report.
Among others, to better understand the disparities between male and female-headed households, the study compared the net land rented among male and female decision-makers to quantify the gap between the two groups.
For instance, the results showed that the mean land rented for female-headed households was 0.046 acres in 2016, declining to 0.039 acres in 2019 while the average for male-headed households moved from 0.16 acres to 0.12 acres.
Reads the study in part: “Over the years, land markets have proven to contribute to increased farm production and technical efficiency gains by transferring land from relatively less productive households to more productive households.
“Ironically, women constitute a majority of farmers in sub-Saharan Africa contributing 60-80 percent of the agricultural labour force but their level of participation in rental markets is disproportionately low.”
Among the factors behind the inequality include social norms, transaction costs and land scarcity according to the report.
In an interview on Tuesday, National Association for Business Women executive director Barbara Banda said land being a factor of production is critical in business saying most women struggle to raise capital because of land ownership challenges.
“Land as an asset that can be used to raise finances for business and we know that land acquisition is already contentious for women in terms of access and also in terms of our cultural and traditional set up,” she said.
Banda said that women also struggle to acquire land even in urban areas where the real estate market is dominated by men and puts women at a disadvantage when it comes to negotiation skills.
“I think there is a need to open up the space for participation of women and also getting women to get involved in the land management market to get land and lend it out. There is also a need to empower them to be strong negotiators and understand the laws,” she said.
In a separate interview, National Association for Small and Medium Enterprises executive coordinator William Mwale described the land issue as an outstanding obstacle to women entrepreneurs as lenders look for assets like land as collateral.
He said: “Although we have several laws including the 2016 Customary Land Act which seeks to protect women’s rights over land ownership we believe there is need for some more support regarding their empowerment.”
In many African States, including Malawi, the establishment of laws that protect women’s land rights is rooted in the assumption that once there are laws for the protection of women’s land rights, women will enjoy and realise their land rights.
Women comprise about 70 percent of the country’s agricultural workforce, but United Nations Women estimates that they hold just about 17 percent of the land.