Major factors contributing to changes in the traditional gender division of labor in Africa

Mugira Fredrick

This essay discusses what I feel are six major factors that have contributed to changes in the traditional gender division of labor in Africa.

It is based on the activity profile, centered on the factor that females and males in a community have different traditional roles to play. Most of the examples and experiences used in this essay are dawned from Kalangala district[1] of Uganda. Kalangala district consist of 84 Islands. All these Islands are found in Lake Victoria. According to the latest Uganda population census, Kalangala district has a total population of 34,907 with 20,886 males and 14,021 females

Traditionally, females and males played different roles in the community. There are roles that were seen and are still seen as for males alone and those that are viewed at as belonging to females alone. As Narayan et al (2000:115) argue, “man (was seen) as the provider for the family and the woman taking care of the home.” This draws attention to the fact that society naturally distributed roles that fell under the brackets of production of goods and services , activities done at a community level, and decision making to different people depending on their gender identity or rather what Gregson et al (1997:53) cited in Hatfield ( 2003:3) call, “male or female.”

Women for example have been known traditionally to be engaged much in home chores such as cooking, caring for children and washing of clothes among others.
Wilkins (2005:266) writes, “over all women are constituted in most passive roles.” Meanwhile males are also traditionally viewed at as playing several roles in the society such as being decision makers and breadwinners of the family. However, as Narayan et al (2000:109) write, “women’s and men’s roles are going through major changes.” This draws attention to the fact that females and males are now playing roles in the society which were traditionally not theirs.
It is important to note that these changes in traditional gender division of labour have not only affected men and women but also youths and children.

As Narayan et al (2000:111) note, “…Women are stepping outside of their household responsibilities to earn a living and help bring food to the table.”
Narayan et al (2000:116) further argue that, “there are also cases of almost complete role reversal, with the men assuming the bulk of cooking, cleaning and looking after children.”

Several factors have led to these changes in the traditional gender division of labor in Africa and the world over .The remaining part of this essay discusses these factors.

The first factor is the application of Alternative Development Paradigm to bring sustainable development of communities especially those in the southern parts of the globe.
Following the failure of modernization and dependency development paradigms, alternative development paradigm which Pieterse (2002:74) notes that implys, “a definite theoretical break with main stream development”, has been employed to bring about an end to misery as a result of underdevelopment in the community.
This paradigm is pro - people and as Pieterse (2002:750) puts it, it is “participatory and people centered.” It gives a chance to everyone regardless of gender and age to participate in development process. With this paradigm, females are seen as patterns of males in bringing about development at household, community and national levels. Females and more especially women are no longer taken as Wilkins (2005:267) argues,
“ ...as individuals within a pluralist society, rather as members of a shared collective with the power to mobilize ,act and resist.”
This has subsequently led to a change in the traditional gender division of labor in Africa due to the fact that it emphasizes on the need for collective efforts in bring about development in communities. It overlooks gender differences.
This same development paradigm has led to establishment of several programs designed to benefit women and girls. This has subsequently led to their empowerment and they now see themselves as persons who can compete with females in any fields.
More still with this development paradigm, females are no longer seen as people supposed to engage in passive and un paying jobs. They have now joined their husbands to be breadwinners too. Side by side with their husbands, the females are now helping their husbands to raise families by doing roles that were traditionally meant for males. Now women are engaged in activities like petty trade, such as selling of fish which was noticed in Kalangala district. Children and women are now engaged in causal labor especially in agricultural sector. This was also witnessed in Kalangala district. Several other females are engaged in factory employment and service sector jobs such as the girls who are working as service providers in Kalangala beaches for example as waitresses. Most of these jobs were traditionally meant for males.

The second factor contributing to changes in the traditional gender division of labor in Africa is poverty.
Poverty needs to be fought from two sides as a move intended to eradicate it successfully. As Narayan et al (2000:11) argue, “in several places, people stress that the poorer the household, the more likely it is that the women will be involved in some form of work outside the household.” With poverty, females have given up their traditional roles and ventured into males’ roles to supplement their family’s income, likewise males have ventured in females’ jobs to earn a living a result of poverty and unemployment.
An example here can be the profession of nursing which was traditional seen as belonging to females, however, several males have now joined it to earn a living.
Narayan et al (2000:110) note that, “with increased economic hardships and rising male employments, poor women are working outside the home in large numbers to supplement, sometimes very substantially household budgets.”
In an interview with Jessica Nachanzi aged 40, a housewife I found at Nakatiba “dead” lagoon in Kalangala, she told me, she has resorted to burning charcoal from trees cut down by people clearing forests in Kalangala to pave way for BIDCO palm trees planting project. She attributed her shift to charcoal burning, a job seen traditionally to be belonging to men, to the fact that she has to look after her children, two of whom she had by her side during this interview. She stressed that her husband could not do this alone.
Another example is that of women who are operating shops at Nakatiba landing site in Kalangala district. Three of them I interviewed by names of Faridah, Namamutebi, and Allen stressed that their move to join this work which was traditionally seen as for men as is intended to help them supplement their husbands’ income. Likewise Neft and Levine, (1997), Steevens (2000) cited in Wilkins (2005:262) argue that “ women are more likely than men to suffer from poverty, with their access restricted to critical education , health employment and political.” This draws attention to the fact that some females have no alternative but to take on jobs, even if they are for men, so that they can earn a living and fight poverty affecting them which is hindering them from living a better life.
It is important to note that as women earn more money, they tend to play bigger roles in household decision-making, a role traditionally meant for males /husbands. Narayan et al (2000:111) drive this point home when they write that, “in Ghana, Malawi, Nigeria and Zambia, a positive link is found between women’s earning capacity and their role in household decision.”
Likewise, children who have money nowadays are taking on the role of decision makers in their families from their parents because they have money which and as the saying goes ‘money talks’.
Poverty therefore contributes to changes in the traditional gender division of labor in Africa in such a way that it makes particular people to take on roles that were not traditionally their as they try to fight it. It also puts some people in a situation where by they surrender some of their roles to those who can manage them properly especially if this concerns money.

Thirdly, education has also contributed to changes in the traditional gender division of labor in Africa. With increased education of females, the job market is now democratic. It welcomes all sexes, male or female. What decides now is not gender but qualifications. With education, as Narayan, et al (2000:112) writes “… women have opportunities for jobs than men now.” In most job adverts employers encourage women to apply as longer as they qualify.
Several females in Africa are now engaged in jobs like engineering. More than a few ladies put on pairs of trousers and do men’s work such as climbing of Radio and television masks to repair them. All this has been caused by education of women, who now see themselves as not different from men in terms of what they can offer, after all they are qualified. With education still, women are increasingly seeking equity and demanding for their rights which has subsequently caused major changes in gender division of labour. Kalangala’s district information Officer, Twaha Matovu[2] told me in an interview that about 30 percent of Kalangala district workers are females. He said most of these females got these jobs on merit because they had qualifications. How could these females acquire these jobs surely with out education qualifications? Education has revolutionarized everything.

Deaths have also contributed to changes in the traditional gender division of labor in Africa. With increased killer diseases in Africa, such as HIV/Aids, Malaria and Ebola, deaths of heads of families have been rampant. When death takes way the male head of a family who has been fulfilling the duty of breadwinner, a wife (widow) has no alternative but rather to taken on the roles of her deceased husband. This as Narayan et al (2000:114) elaborates is, “resulting in a new phenomenon of women becoming their families’ chief breadwinners.”
However, in incidences where women also later succumb to death, children now assume the roles of heads of their families, and they become breadwinners. Such a thing is happening in Rakai district and several areas in Africa. Traditionally, children and women are not supposed to be heads of families. Among the women and some youths I interviewed in Kalangala district during out tour there, no one told me she/he was working because of the death of her/his head of family however at least two women at Nakatiba Landing site, told me they have some friends who are working because their husbands have died.

The fifth factor contributing to changes in the traditional gender division of labor in Africa is concerned with coming up of the increased gender movements which emphasize especially on female empowerment. The last 40 years have seen several movements spring up meant mostly to end inequalities and discrimination based and gender differences.
Movements like Gender Equity Empowerment Framework, Gender and Development, Movement towards recognizing Woman’s roles in Development (WID) have all led to changes in gender division of labor in Africa with mostly females being brought up to limelight to compete with males in several positions . Such movements have helped to address gender gaps at various levels and subsequently led to increased access of females to education, access to information and control of resources and benefits.

This has subsequently led to a change in traditional division of labor with more females getting involved in activities originally meant for males.
At Nakatiba landing site in Kalangala district, a lady one Getrude Nabugela owns a
‘fish table’, or rather a place where fish is collected from after being brought from the lake. At this place, fish is cleaned and packed for sell in local and international markets.
In an interview with Nabugela who was dressed in a pair of trousers, speaking in the local language Luganda , she stressed with emphasis that “ there are no jobs meant for men alone, women are able to taken on any jobs as long as they are sensitized and shown how to do them”. This I attribute it to the fact that gender empowerment movements have helped to empower Nabugela to the extent that she sees herself as no different from men in terms of what to offer to society , she told me she employs 54 males at her ‘fish table’.

Lastly with globalization, or rather the shrinking of the world into one village with several interconnecting networks, there has been tremendous free flow of ideas from individuals to individuals, countries to countries and continent to continent.
This is causing several things including changes in the traditional Gender division of labor. With Globalization and its free flow of information, cultures in Africa and in countries belonging to ‘South’[3] , such as those that emphasize on traditional gender roles are quickly disappearing and those of the people in the ‘North’ are displacing them. Western culture imperialism is gradually and slowly taking roots displacing cultures of the local people. Indigenous traditions, cultures and norms are now seen as local , bad and sometimes inhumane.

This has for example caused women in Africa to copy the lifestyle of their counterparts in Western countries. An example here could be the ‘Single mothers’ phenomena where by some women no longer consider marriage important. This has led to such women to take on roles of males as a move intended to look after their families.
Furthermore African children, who traditionally, used to be under their parents as their helpers, with globalization they have now been poisoned by the western culture.
They tend to see themselves equal with their parents and some of them no longer want to submit to their parents. This indirectly means that the roles they used to perform in the society are slowly changing because if they see such roles as being oppressive, they have a right to refuse them. Such a thing was unheard of in the traditional African culture.
It is also important to note that globalization has also made trade and commerce easier and much rewarding. This has attracted several females to join this field as move intended to earn a living. With globalization nothing has been left un changed, right from the youngest member of the society to the oldest, all have experienced either the bad or good changes which globalization has inflicted onto their society. This surely has not spared the traditional gender division of labor in Africa.
Take an example of the spread of the culture of homosexuality in Africa. This has surely turned males into females and females into males as far as ‘bed activities[4]’ are concerned. Globalization is to blame here.

All in all, with increased advocacy for sustainable development, several factors have taken place and most of them have led to changes in the traditional gender division of labor, in Africa, and several other continents. However, means employed to achieve sustainable development have to observe and respect culture and norms of the masses if they are to succeed. This does not mean to leave some particular gender out of the development circles but rather engage them with respect to their culture.


References

Creedon, P.J. (1993). The challenges of re-visioning Gender Values. In P.J .Creedon (ed.) Women in Mass communication (2nd ed). (pp.-23). California : Sage Publications lnc.

In T. Skelton and T, Allen (ed.). Culture and Global Change (pp.1-10) New York: Routledge.

Interviews I had with some residents of Kalangala between 24-26 March 2006 during a study tour for Postgraduate Environmental Journalism and Communication students of Makerere University 2005/6.

Narayan , N. Chambers , R. Shan , M. K. Petesch , P. (2000) .Voices of the Poor Crying Out of Change. Washington: Oxford press.

Pieterse, J.N.(2002). Development Theory Deconstructions /Reconstructions.
Skelton T, and Allen T (2005).Culture and Global change an introduction. London: Sage Publications

Wikipedia encyclopedia at http://www.wikipedia.com/ accessed on 1st April 2006.
Wilkins, K .G. (2005). Out of focus: Gender visibilities in development. In O. Hemer and T. Tufte (ed). Media and Global Change Rethinking Communication for Development (PP.261-270) . Buenos Aires: Nordicon
[1] I use Kalangala district following a study tour I had there between 24th to 26th of March 2006.
[2] Twaha Matovu was our tour guide while in Kalangala district.
[3] South is used to identify undeveloped countries. Its opposite is North with refers to developed countries.
[4] In other words intercourse