Agricultural policies, employment, and income of women in Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso's economy, which is based primarily on agriculture, employs about 70% of the active population. Its contribution to GDP is estimated on average at 35%. 83% (Ministère de la Promotion de la Femme, 2016) of women work in the agricultural sector, and their production guarantees 75% of household food consumption (gender profile Burkina Faso, 2016) despite their limited access to land and productive resources. Faced with these constraints, the government has adopted measures to improve the living conditions of these farming women through their access to land and agricultural inputs in particular (equipment, fertilizer, and so on). Our study uses a static computable general equilibrium model to assess the macroeconomic and sectorial effects of these measures on women's employment and income. The results show that increasing the supply of land and agricultural equipment and reducing the cost of fertilizer contribute to food security, economic growth, and improving the living conditions of women through job creation and improved household income.