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Date Added to
Site: 18th November 2003 |
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Short Summary
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| Title |
A Bigger Piece of a Very Small Pie: Intrahousehold
Resource Allocation and Poverty Reduction in Africa |
| Author |
O’Laughlin, B. |
| Publication
Date |
June 2003 |
| Publisher |
Institute of Development Studies (IDS) |
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Short Summary |
Much research, some by feminists, shows that
an increase in household income does not necessarily improve the well-being
of all members of the household. Furthermore, research done in rural
Africa finds that gender inequality is inefficient and bad for economic
growth. The policy conclusion often drawn is that the best way to
reduce poverty is to redress gender imbalance in control of assets
in poor households. This paper challenges these findings analysing
two cases which are repeatedly used as evidence for the link between
gender inequality and low productivity in agriculture: Jones's work
in northern Cameroon and Udry's work in Burkina Faso. It argues that
these fail to demonstrate that gender inequality is inefficient. These
studies are based on the unsound assumptions that maximising income
and individualising assets necessarily reduces poverty. Instead of
reducing poverty, processes of individualisation and commodification
have increased economic differences between households, and deepened
the vulnerability and lengthened work hours for women in poor households.
(Paper prepared for the International Workshop Feminist Fables and
Gender Myths: Repositioning Gender in Development Policy and Practice,
Institute of Development Studies, Sussex, 2-4 July 2003)
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