Unequal Ground: How Culture and Law Limit Senegalese Women’s Land Access

Despite legal frameworks supporting gender equality in Senegal, traditional norms and economic barriers severely restrict women’s land access, leaving them reliant on male relatives. Initiatives like Women’s Promotion Groups and legislative reforms aim to improve women’s secure land rights, but progress remains slow.

A recent analysis by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the World Bank, with contributions from institutes such as IED Afrique and IPAR, delves into the complex landscape of land rights and gender inequality in Senegal. Despite a legal framework that theoretically ensures gender equality, longstanding cultural norms and structural legal issues severely limit women's ability to access, control, and benefit from land. Although the 2001 Constitution prohibits gender discrimination in property rights, the practical application is far from ideal. In practice, women’s land access is primarily indirect, controlled by male relatives, and limited to secondary or temporary rights. Traditional practices largely determine land rights, with men as the default heads of households who make key decisions regarding land. Although land is technically a public good, customarily managed under the National Domain Law (NDL) and handled by municipal councils, it is still very much governed by patriarchal social structures. Men, as heads of households, dominate decision-making processes, with women often dependent on fathers, husbands, or sons for access. Women’s access is thus largely restricted to loans, gifts, or inheritance, without formal administrative recognition, and even when women acquire land, they rarely receive full administrative control.

Land Ownership: A Persistent Gender Imbalance

In rural Senegal, where women make up about 70% of the labor force, their role in agriculture is crucial. Yet only a small fraction, approximately 6%, actually own agricultural land, despite their essential contribution to food security and economic stability in rural areas. The situation is particularly precarious for vulnerable groups, such as widows or divorced women, who face heightened economic insecurity due to male-dominated family structures. Widows are generally dependent on male family members to retain land access, and even divorced women find it difficult to secure property rights without a male guardian. These conditions are worsened by widespread adherence to traditional and religious interpretations that further marginalize women’s rights. While Muslim law, frequently applied in Senegal, grants women limited inheritance rights, cultural practices often ensure that men retain control over family property. This is particularly evident in regions like Diembéring, where traditional norms dictate that land is passed down through male relatives to prevent the land from leaving the family lineage, thus restricting women’s rights to inherit or own land.

The Urban Land Shift: New Challenges for Women

In peri-urban areas like Bambilor, urbanization has intensified the commodification of land, creating both new opportunities and additional barriers. As agricultural land transitions to private housing developments, the financial stakes rise, making it even harder for underprivileged groups, especially women, to secure property. Many rural farmers in Bambilor have been drawn into selling their land for housing development projects, which often results in families losing their agricultural base. Women are generally disadvantaged in these land transactions, as men traditionally hold the land rights and control decision-making. Although a few women with economic means are able to purchase land and secure property rights, the majority lack the financial resources to overcome the barriers created by land monetization.

Collective Empowerment Through Women’s Promotion Groups

In response to these challenges, initiatives led by civil society organizations, technical and financial partners, and the government have aimed at bolstering women’s secure land access. Women’s Promotion Groups (WPGs), supported by NGOs, have become a powerful mechanism for collective land access, providing women with a strategy to circumvent the restrictions of individual ownership by requesting land rights as a group. These groups have allowed women to negotiate collective rights and access, particularly in rural areas, although the success varies by region. For example, in Toubacouta, advocacy and capacity-building efforts have encouraged municipal councils to grant land rights to women’s groups, helping them bypass male-dominated allocation processes. However, despite these efforts, the overall representation of women in local land governance remains low. Although the Senegalese parity law mandates equal representation in municipal councils, women’s presence in critical decision-making bodies like land commissions is minimal. Male-dominated governance structures continue to influence how land is distributed and managed, further marginalizing women’s rights and voices.

Moving Forward: Legislative and Social Change

The commodification of land offers a pathway for women to access property independently of traditional structures, but this option is limited by economic inequalities. While some women with sufficient resources can bypass traditional constraints by purchasing land, the reality is that economic barriers are substantial. A lack of knowledge about formal land registration processes and high survey fees also hinder many women from securing formal land tenure. Financial support mechanisms that reduce registration costs have shown promise in regions with high land pressures, enabling more women to secure land rights. However, these programs often rely on external funding and may not be sustainable in the long term. Some development projects have also implemented quotas, aiming to allocate a certain percentage of developed agricultural land to women. Although quotas have enabled more women to gain access to land, their effectiveness remains limited, as quota systems may inadvertently set a ceiling on women’s rights rather than fully integrating them into land governance.

The findings underline that while legislative and policy changes are essential, they alone are insufficient without shifts in social norms and greater support for women’s economic empowerment. Senegalese women are developing new strategies for land access, from joining WPGs to purchasing property where possible, but systemic barriers remain. Recommendations from the report include more comprehensive legislative reforms, increased financial support for women seeking formal land access, and enhanced public awareness campaigns, particularly among men, to emphasize the benefits of equitable land rights. The need for capacity-building, particularly in local governance, is crucial to empower women in decision-making roles and help them navigate the legal landscape effectively. These measures, along with greater efforts to integrate women into formal land governance, could make a significant difference in enhancing land tenure security for Senegalese women.