(Ecofin Agency) - In a study, NGO Wildaf/Senegal revealed that Senegalese women own only 13% of agricultural lands across the country. A surprising reality considering that these “women represent 26% of persons in charge of agricultural plots”.

According to the NGO, discrimination is behind the lack of access of women to lands. “Irrespective of the various land transmission modes (inheritance, sale, land regulation, etc.), women are often excluded from the process which is vital to production,” said Mariame Coulibaly, President of Wildaf/Senegal as the study was presented. “Their major role in family farms is thus being ignored,” she continued.

Apart from discrimination, Senegalese women face “various challenges to invest in industry and trade, still because of the lack of access to land”.

Engaged in a land reform process, Senegal should integrate the gender approach to rationalize its land system.

Earlier last week, the head of Mbour’s fiscal service centre, Baye Moussa Ndoye during a workshop organized by the Urban Land Management Reform Support Project (PAGEF) said that land reform could benefit from fiting in the Act 3 of decentralization.

Souha Touré