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It is not only the size of labor force but also its composition, especially Female Labor
Force Participation (FLFP), plays a central role in the economic development of a country.
Although developing economies across the world have formulated policies, which have resulted in
a significant increase in the proportion of women participation in economic
activities (Jaumotte, 2003), FLFP rates have been declining in agriculture in most of the countries.
It is pointed out that the problem of declining FLFP is serious in middle income
agriculture- based economies (Tansel, 2002). According to the International Labour Organization
(ILO) (2006), the gap in male-female participation rates for Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho
and Swaziland in 1996 was 19%, 18%, 27% and 42%, respectively. It is worth noting that the
gap in female and male labor force participation rates in Swaziland is wider in comparison to
other developing countries indicated above. Furthermore, the ILO report mentioned that within
the African region, the gap between male and female participation in the labor force is such
that females are restricted to the agricultural sector only.
In Swaziland, women constitute a majority (53%) of the population (CSO, 2007a
and 2007b). However, participation of females in agriculture has declined from 38% in
1980 to 12% in 2005 (World Bank, 2005; and CSO, 2006) even though the economy
of Swaziland is largely agriculture-based. Their participation is important given that
the agricultural sector contributes 13% to the country's Gross Domestic Product
(GDP) (Central Bank of Swaziland, CBS, 2007). According to the CBS (2007), females
in Swaziland have limited access to non-agricultural wage paying jobs and are
often employed in low paying jobs. This means that females have low income and this
shows their poor status almost half of the households in Swaziland are female-headed, in
the rural areas. |
