Files
Abstract
Since the early 1980s, development experts and donor agencies have agreed on the
importance of structural adjustment programs (SAPs) aimed at 'getting prices right'.
Adoption of reforms were made preconditions for new loans or grants in many sub-Saharan
African countries. In both Malawi and Cameroon, one such required reform was government's
eliminating fertilizer subsidies to the small farm sector, previously used to increase
the profitability of intensive agriculture while keeping food prices artificially low. The aim of
this ,:>aper is to review fertilizer subsidy removal programs for their impact on farmers, who
in sub-Saharan Africa are women. In theory, SAP programs should benefit women producers,
because much emphasis is placed on renewing agricultural production and aligning
farmgate prices with world prices. But in practice, will they benefit? Are SAPs gender-neutral
and affect men and women equally, or merely gender-blind?