A Feminist Perspective that Poverty is Gendered: Do Women Have Lesser Access to Resources in Comparison with Men?

Abstract

Today, there is a growing trend of increased poverty among female households in most developing countries. The changes in the global economy are really affecting the vulnerable among these are women and children in having sustainable forms of livelihoods. It is interesting to note that the relatively poor and the women in particular in the rural and peri-urban settlements tend to be most hit as compared to men because of lack of equal opportunities. Women in rural areas are said to be less likely to have access to agricultural credit financing without collateral such as land, and have limited opportunities to participate in decision making processes regarding agricultural production. This is an emerging trend of feminist view of agricultural production as men migrate to cities and towns in search of employment, the women remain on the assumption that they now heads of the households. With more women-headed households, there is a greater demand on women to find suitable means of livelihoods to sustain their families.As the debate continues on the feminist perspective that poverty is gendered and whether women have lesser access to resources in comparison with men, it is becoming clear that women, because of their being women especially in rural households have suffered massive marginalization in almost every sphere of life in developing countries. There is a greater global movement to promote gender equality as most women are adversely affected by the nature and structural changes in the world economy. In most Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), a wide gap exists in income and poverty levels between the rural and urban dwellers because of low agricultural production in rural areas. This is also worsened due to the fact that the agricultural practice continues to favour men than women in rural settlements.