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“The family farms together, the decisions, however are made by the man” —Matrilineal land tenure systems, welfare and decision making in rural Malawi

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  • Djurfeldt, Agnes Andersson
  • Hillbom, Ellen
  • Mulwafu, Wapulumuka O.
  • Mvula, Peter
  • Djurfeldt, Göran

Abstract

Improved female control over land is often put forth as a means of raising the productivity of smallholder agriculture, enhancing female bargaining power and raising women’s incomes. The article uses some quantitative but primarily qualitative data on access to income and decision making, to analyse gender patterns related to welfare, incomes and control over resources in a context where women’s rights to land are particularly strong, that is in a matrilineal and uxorilocal setting. Women’s land rights are contextualized in relation to labour intensive, low productive smallholder systems and the paper assesses to what extent female control over land affects welfare outcomes, decision making and intra-household control over incomes and labour. While we find that female control over land does affect intra household relations it is clear that land reform is not enough to ensure gender equality. For any land use policy reform to have a profound affect it would have to also take into account control over other productive resources, e.g. labour, as well as the wider institutional and political context.

Suggested Citation

  • Djurfeldt, Agnes Andersson & Hillbom, Ellen & Mulwafu, Wapulumuka O. & Mvula, Peter & Djurfeldt, Göran, 2018. "“The family farms together, the decisions, however are made by the man” —Matrilineal land tenure systems, welfare and decision making in rural Malawi," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 601-610.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:lauspo:v:70:y:2018:i:c:p:601-610
    DOI: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2017.10.048
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    6. Mwale, Martin Limbikani & Fintel, Dieter von & Marchetta, Francesca & Smith, Anja & Kamninga, Tony Mwenda, 2021. "The Negative Impact of Farm Input Subsidies on Women's Agency in Malawi's Matrilocal Settlements," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 315041, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
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    8. Ebelechukwu Maduekwe & Gertrud Buchenrieder, 2023. "The effect of negative human recognition on farmland access and well‐being: Evidence from women farmers in Malawi," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(1), pages 112-133, February.
    9. Djenontin, Ida Nadia S. & Zulu, Leo C. & Richardson, Robert B., 2022. "Smallholder farmers and forest landscape restoration in sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence from Central Malawi," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    10. Selorm Kobla Kugbega & Agnes Andersson Djurfeldt, 2023. "Gendered dynamics of state‐led smallholder commercialisation in Ghana. The case of Nkoranza traditional area," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 35(5), pages 716-737, July.
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