of widows. The women complained that, the encroachers think that widows were underutilizing the land, thus tempting them to annex their land. The study has not gone in-depth to further examine this problem. So, the form of underutilization and the reasons behind it, require more investigations.
The finding of this study revealed that the level of relationship with in-laws can have a certain influence on the act of property grabbing. This is confirmed by Mamashela in Schuler, (1986:129), who shows that if a woman’s relationship with the in-laws, is not cordial, she may not be able to convene a family meeting for intervention. However, from the findings of the study, it can also be argued that even where the level of relationship is good or moderate, death or separation may lead to the same consequence. The study showed that there are very few communities can do to protect widows land rights. The other reason given by widows for not fighting their in-laws was fear of antagonizing them and this would not be in the interest of the children. Fear of being bewitched also acted as a block to widows seeking protection of their rights, with few exceptions.
Policy response
There have been very slow efforts in the response by the legal framework regarding land reform policies. This limits the enforcement of policy initiatives. The Gender Acts of 2007 seeks to remove discriminatory tendencies to land use and ownership. It advocates for equal opportunities in inheritance of land for children regardless one’s gender. But this has yet been fully operationalized. However, there are other international and national policies that promote women’s empowerment or aimed at reducing gender inequalities, implementing them is however problematic. The structures have not been reviewed to create an enabling environment for policy implementation.
must be based on the individual need of the poor, which they themselves must define. In order to strengthen poor people’s capacity, a focus on increasing poor people’s access to productive resources such as land is of great importance, as well as giving them the possibility to develop their agriculture potentials through better markets and agricultural inputs. There is need to consider that women experience poverty due to gender discrimination and because of this they are denied access to land, owning property, bank account, health and education.
Implementation must be informed by country-level, context and culturally-specific assessments to determine the needs of women farmers on a community, regional and country level in order to tailor approaches which will address underlying causes of inequality while ensuring women's wellbeing. This should be informed by a broader gender strategy which establishes long-term goals and guides the intervention.
In order to reduce rural poverty, the issue of land as a secure property must be addressed. The fact that women are the most vulnerable groups in most communities, and at the same time amongst the poorest of the poor, their issues relating to land must be dealt with, paying special attention to their inheritance rights, because they are being discriminated against when it comes to matters that has to do with what property to receive upon the death of their fathers or husbands.
Securing the right to land rights for the right people. It is necessary to specify what kinds of rights (full private ownership or use rights) and whose rights (individual, family, village, ethnic group, state, etc.) need to be secured. Promoting private ownership by setting up cadastres and distributing formal individual legal titles is not always the best solution, as it is expensive and may benefit elite groups that can influence formalization processes.
It will be of great importance to increase the women’s access to land and increase their access to agricultural inputs and rural credit by removing the constraints and help boost food sufficiency.
Given the importance of the rural sector in attaining food security and reducing poverty, there is recognition by policy-makers that a vibrant agricultural and rural sector, under- pinned by land reform, will provide the catalyst for improving living standards in Africa.
It is often better to build on and foster the progressive evolution of traditional land administration systems (subject to minimum requirements regarding inclusiveness and security of rights) instead of establishing new formal systems at the outset. This is particularly relevant for communal and common property lands, which are very important for the livelihoods of poor rural people and their cultural values. As recommended by IFAD, 2008, it is also important that we replicate same in Serra Leone.
Advancing women’s empowerment
There is inadequate capacity on gender equality in the communities. This limits the women’s ability to effectively plan interventions that address the needs of women. This study has shown that, the Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs have limited capacity in gender responsive budgeting which is essential for integration of gender into agricultural development.
There is an existing imbalance between the contribution women make and their control over, and access to, income, finance, technical assistance and other productive resources and decision-making. Despite women providing the majority of the labour at farm level, when it comes to delivering the crop to market and completing the sale, it is the men who take up that responsibility, women are often excluded. These tasks are mainly done by men, who subsequently in order to retain much of the control over household income. As a result, one will realize that the role played by women is often unrecognised, unpaid, and invisible. However, Discrimination against women should be acknowledged as a serious impediment to development, which must be eradicated through education and training of women and girls at primary, secondary, tertiary and post-tertiary institutions.
Discrimination and violence against women and girls should be addressed through education which complements anti-violence and anti-discrimination legislation.
There is the need to expand leadership and participation of women in agricultural decision-making at all levels and in all institutions (community, national, regional, and global) related to policy, investment allocation, program development, and implementation. Strengthening the