Agriculture is a key driver of most African economies, with evidence showing women’s critical role in agriculture, on their own account, as unpaid workers on family farms and as paid or unpaid labourers on farms and agricultural enterprises. However, women’s participation in agriculture continues to receive little attention.

This brief asserts that livelihoods based and gender-sensitive social protection can lead to women’s empowerment, increased participation, increased agency and diversification of livelihood options to non-agriculture-based enterprises, which can mitigate against agriculture-based shocks, increase income security (discretionary income) and reduce negative coping mechanisms by women.