Plantations, women, and food security in Africa : interrogating the investment pathway towards zero hunger in Cameroon and Ghana

The paper critically engages with sustainable development goal targets (SDG-2- Target 2.3; SDG-5) to examine how and why large-scale agricultural land acquisitions modify the social relations of women’s food access. The study draws from impacts of various plantation schemes in Cameroon and Ghana. It argues that the framing of the SDG-2 appears to co-exist alongside promotion of corporate-led agricultural investment. Plantations have been characterised by displacement, reduced food production and competition over land resources in rural contexts, where women bear the burden of social reproduction, particularly in subsistence and food provisioning for their households.