Women and agriculture

The Zimbabwe government regards agricultural development as of paramount importance to the nation’s existence and future. For that reason, the government supports agricultural development at all levels from subsistence farmers to small-scale and large-scale commercial farmers. In Zimbabwean society, women play multiple roles in the agricultural sector, particularly in the communal land and small-scale commercial farming sectors. A number of studies on the role of women in economic development have touched on sensitive and deeply entrenched traditional beliefs, sometimes drawing controversial comments from decision makers, policy makers, researchers and extension agents. Throughout the 1990s the state realized the key role that women played in agriculture and development and sought to address the legal inequities that hindered them from exercising their full rights as citizens. However, many of the gains women had made were eroded by the conflicts that emerged as a result of the land reform programme.

A research paper on the role women have always played in Zimbabwe's agricultural sector.