Gender dynamics and land use change amongst smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa

Rapid land use change in sub-Saharan Africa is threatening the provision of local and global ecosystem services. Nearly 10% of forest area was lost between 2000 and 2010 and deforestation rates in the region are the highest globally, predominantly driven by smallholder agricultural practices (Franks et al ., 2017; Hosonuma et al ., 2012). There has been a recent emergence of studies using remote sensing techniques to identify land use change trends globally and in Africa, following the availability of high-resolution satellite data such as Landsat (e.g. Curtis et al ., 2018; Mayaux et al. , 2013; Rudel, 2013). Research has also linked land use change patterns in sub-Saharan Africa with high-level socio-economic data to identify key drivers of deforestation, such as commodity crop expansion (Ordway et al ., 2017) and urban population growth and agricultural trade (DeFries et al., 2010). However, there remains a lack of understanding about how socio-economic conditions affect nuanced smallholder-landscape interactions on the ground. I propose to address this knowledge gap, with a focus on gender dynamics. Comprising nearly half the workforce, women play a key role in rural sub-Saharan Africa landscapes, and agriculture is becoming further feminised due to demographic shifts such as male rural-to-urban migration (FAO, 2011). Despite this, female smallholders face persistent gendered legal and de facto disadvantages that affect their interactions with land, including insecure land tenure (particularly in countries with pluralist systems); exclusion from decision-making; and lower access to credit, inputs and extension services (Doss, 2001; Njie, 2013; UNDESA, 2011). Gendered crop species preference and responsibilities over different stages of agricultural processes further shape how male and female farmers choose to use land. Men and women may also depend differently on local ecosystem services, with men for example harvesting timber whilst women gather a variety of non-timber forest products such as food, medicine and fuelwood (Sunderland et al ., 2014). Analysing these complex socio-economic conditions with satellite data will shed new light on human-environment interactions in the region. I aim to investigate how gendered dynamics amongst smallholder farmers affect land use patterns in sub-Saharan Africa. I will address questions such as: What are the patterns and dynamics of land use change in smallholder farminglandscapes in sub-Saharan Africa? How do women engage with different aspects of land use change processes? How do gendered crop production and gendered preferences for ecosystem services shape land use change? How does land use change bring gendered benefits and disbenefits to local farmers' lives and livelihoods? This work aims to inform policy-making and development interventions that, due to lack of
adequate consideration for gender dynamics, may be misguided in their efforts to protect ecosystems and support smallholder farmers.