The Gender and Equity Implications of Land-Related Investments on Land access, Labour and Income-Generating Opportunities | Land Portal
Gender and equity

Resource information

Date of publication: 
December 2013
Resource Language: 
ISBN / Resource ID: 
E-ISBN 978-92-5-107614-9
Pages: 
62
License of the resource: 

In recent years, Zambia has witnessed increased interest from private investors in acquiring land for

agriculture. As elsewhere, large-scale land acquisitions are often accompanied with promises of capital

investments to build infrastructure, bring new technologies and know-how, create employment, and

improve market access, among other benefits. But agricultural investments create risks as well as

opportunities, for instance in relation to loss of land for family farmers. While much debate on ‘land

grabbing’ has discussed risks and opportunities in an aggregate way, it is critical to understand the

distribution of the costs and benefits created by an investment project. For example agricultural investments create gendered outcomes that are poorly understood. Gender inequalities in Zambia, as seen across much of Sub-Saharan Africa, shape access to land, agricultural assets, inputs, services and rural employment opportunities. These gender inequalities are partially responsible for the underperformance of the agricultural sector. Investments in the agriculture sector must therefore account for and challenge these inequalities if they are to deliver their stated benefits.

Authors and Publishers

Author(s), editor(s), contributor(s): 

Charlotte M. Wonani, 
William S. Mbuta,
Augustine M. Mkandawire

Publisher(s): 
FAO logo

The Regional Office for Africa advocates for strong regional partnerships and timely Country Office support.


The substantive technical work of the Regional Office focuses on co-ordinating normative work and its policy dimensions and leadership of the regional dimension of the Organization’s technical networks.


Three main areas characterize the African regional dimension: priority setting and strategic planning, partnership development, and resource mobilization.


Share this page