Prospects of occupational diversification among rural women in sub-Saharan Africa: A review

Abstract

Rural women need to diversify their occupations since farming is rain-fed and therefore seasonal. This is to enable them to acquire additional income and meet up with economic responsibilities during off- season periods. The paper reviews current literature in the field in both farm and non-farm occupations and the impact of occupational diversification. Occupational diversification is of increasing importance for women empowerment. The paper asserts that contribution made by occupational diversification in empowering rural livelihoods economically is a significant one which has often been ignored by policy makers who choose to focus on agriculture. Therefore, government policy should promote the development of human capital among rural women in order to equip them with the necessary skills to work in non-farm activities.