Women's participation in economic development in Tanzania

Abstract

Different movements have been formed for several years to promote equality between men and women in all areas of development. In recent years, the millennium development goals wanted governments and nations to empower women economically on equal basis as men which mean that equal participation of women and men in economic activities of the country. Women participation in economic development of the country refers not only participation in economic activities but also how much they are benefited from economic growth and development of the country. Tanzania is among the countries that take different initiative measures in promoting gender equality and women empowerment under the Ministry of community development, gender and children. The goal seems to be not full reached in the sense that women economic resources accessibility and ownership is still a problem in Tanzania resulted from traditional customs and laws. This paper seeks to find out how women participate and benefit from economic development of the country compared to men. The paper utilizes an archival historical researches data on secondary literatures from previous studies done. The paper found unequal benefits between men and women not only in participation in economic activities but also in terms of payment whereby men are paid more than women even in cases where both men and women perform similar task. In Tanzania women have been found to outnumber men in agriculture activities especially in food crops production while most of men are found to be concentrated in manufacturing and transportation industries. In line with this, factors that inhibit women participation in economic development have been identified. They include socially traditional customs and laws, limited time as a result of women involvement in household works, low level of education and lack of training compared to men, limited access to capital and banking services and lack of land ownership which can be used as collaterals for getting loans. It is hoped that from this paper, the government of Tanzania can be aware of these problems and come up with effective measures to overcome the problems that are facing women in their economic activities as majority of the factors can be solved. Women in most countries are the backbone of the society and nation therefore they need to be empowered not only for their benefit but also for their family live hood and nation as a whole. The paper also provide policy recommendations as measures to be taken by the government of Tanzania in collaboration with other development stakeholders and communities in order to ensure that women are benefited on equal basis as men for development to be achieved.;탄자니아에서 성평등과 여성의 권한강화는 “지역개발, 젠더, 및 아동 부” (Ministry of community development, gender and children)의 소관 하에 진행되고 있다. 그러나 여성의 경제기회와 소유의 문제가 여전히 남아 있다는 점에서 성평등과 여성의 권한 강화는 여전히 이뤄지고 있지 않고 있는데 그 주 원인은 전통적 관습과 규율 때문이다. 이 논문은 역사 자료와 2차 자료를 이용하여 경제 발전 과정에서의 여성 참여와 혜택이 남성과 여성에게 어떻게 다르게 나타났는지를 분석하고 있다. 여성은 경제활동 참여에 있어 남성보다 불평등한 혜택을 받았을 뿐 아니라 비슷한 노동의 경우에도 남성보다 낮은 임금을 받았다. 탄자니아에서 여성은 농촌 식량 생산의 대부분을 차지하고 있는 반면 대부분의 남성은 공업과 운송산업에 집중되어 있다. 여성의 경제 발전 참여를 가로 막는 요소는 전통적인 관습과 규율, 여성의 가사일 책임에 따른 시간 부족, 남성에 비해 낮은 교육과 훈련 부족, 은행서비스와 자본을 제대로 받지 못하는 상황, 은행융자 담보에 사용되는 토지 소유권 부족이다. 이 논문은 탄자니아 정부가 여타 개발 관련자 및 지역관련자들과 함께 여성이 남성과 평등하게 개발의 이익을 누릴 수 있는 조치를 취해야 한다고 점을 제안하고 있다.