PROGRAMME SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY
COURSE ANTHROPOLOGY OF GENDER AND DEVELOPMENT
MARK
QUESTION EXAMINE THE ARGUMENT THAT ECONOMIC STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENT PROGRAMMES AFFECTED WOMEN MORE THAN MEN

The view that Economic Structural Adjustment Programmes (ESAPs) affected women more than men is true to a considerable extent. This was because women were a vulnerable group and Economic Structural Adjustment Programs worsened the situation and that is why ESAP have been cynically changed to mean Extreme Suffering of the African People, and this implies that Economic Structural Adjustment Programs brought more negative impact than positive ones and it were women who particularly suffered more than any other group.
Economic Structural Adjustment Programmes are perceived by the Bretton Wood institutions as the process which aims at making national economies of developing countries more efficient, more flexible and better able to use resources through cutting of expenses. The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank were arguing that Third World countries were being faced with finance problems because they were spending too much on arms and paying workers. Hence the way to address these financial problems was by reducing on arms spending and retrenchment of extra workers, and this was the dawn of a new economic day in developing countries in the form of Economic Structural Adjustment Programmes.
To start with, Structural Adjustment Programmes have worsened the suffering of the people in the developing nations, especially in Africa. The social and economic impact of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank policies and programs on different social groups in Zimbabwe were adversely felt by women, children, peasants and the working class in general (Chakaodza, 1993). However, it is important to note that Economic Structural Programmes had far reaching impact on women than any other social group.
In Zimbabwe, soon after independence the ZANU PF (which was and is the ruling party ), was faced with the obligation to fulfill the promises it had made to the Zimbabweans. It had promised free health care and free education, among other things. In almost all facets of the economy, there were subsidies. However in 1989, the government of Zimbabwe was in no position to fund free primary education. This led the government to embrace the Bretton Woods prescriptions which saw the introduction of Economic Structural Adjustment Programmes. This was aimed at reducing government expenditure and this meant government could no longer provide the basic needs needed by the people.
Economic Structural Adjustment Programmes have worsened gender relations (Stoneman, 1989). While gender inequality predates Structural Adjustment Programmes, they exactly worsened the situation. Evidence from the study of impact of ESAPs in Africa show that more women than men have become unemployed, wage differentials between men and women were growing, working conditions of women were deteriorating, a situation exacerbated by the fact that less women were swelling the ranks of informal sector workers.
Studies in Kenya and Zaire have found that although there is no neat dichotomy between men’s cash crops and women food crops, women farmers are disadvantaged in relation to men because they focus on own food consumption production and have less access to farm support services and crucial inputs Ndengwa, 1985).
To buttress the above, Economic Structural Adjustment Programmes have been noted to be gender-based. Dzodzi Tsikata says that Economic Streuctural Adjustment Programmes are gender based in various ways. The macro economic policies though appearing to be neutral, work out differently for different social groups based on gender relations, for example the promotion of export crops has implications for women farmers most of whom had to work harder on export crop farms they do not own. Also, the promotion private capital and the relaxation of labour regulations had implications for job security and working conditions workers especially those at the lower level of employment, many of whom were women (Nafziger, 1984).
The removal of subsidies on basic needs like health care and food made matters worse for women. Maternal mortality rates rose because women who could not afford thee maternal fees were challenged to give birth in their homes and on top of that, there was food shortage caused by subsidies removal on food.
Moreover, women’s unpaid work increased due to wage freezes. On top of that, women are among the majority of the poor in Africa because they were among the less educated during that time and studies show that during adjustment in Cote d’Ivoire in the 1980’s, fewer women were completing secondary school than before (Hoogvelt 1982).
However, it is important to note that other social groups were also affected the Economic Structural Adjustment Programme, although women were the most affected. Myers (1987), notes that wage freezes that occurred in some countries including Zimbabwe, on the public sector, affected teachers, nurses, doctors, clerical workers and administrators caused untold hardship among these sections of society.
Moreso, Todaro (1982) notes that the so-called trade liberalization, which were measures of removing price controls on commodities, had an effect of causing inflation. During the ESAP era, inflation in Zimbabwe was well above 50% (Chakaodza, 1993). There was sky-rocketing of the prices of basic commodities and this intensified the suffering of the populace.
In addition to the above, Mills (1992) asserts that lack of food commodities meant that the health of children was severely affected. During the adjustment period, the child mortality in Zambia increased due to the incidence of malnutrition, anaemia, malaria and diarrhea. The situation was due to a number of factors including continuing decline in economic conditions, rapid inflation, decontrolling of prices, deterioration in urban-rural terms of trade, population increase, urbanization and drought conditions affecting large areas of the country. All these factors have resulted in a rising malnutrition. This shows that Economic Structural Adjustment Programmes did not only affect women alone, but other groups even though women were the most affected.
To cap it all, Economic Structural Adjustment Programmes have been noted to affect women than any other group. However, other groups of people were also affected by the Economic Structural Adjustment Programmes but at a different magnitude to that of women.

REFERENCE
Chakaodza, A. (1993). Structural Adjustment in Zimbabwe and Zambia: Reconstructive or Destructive. Harare: Third World Publishing.
Dzodzi Tsikata Research Institute, University of Ghana.
Hoogvelt, A. M. (1982). The Third World , IMF and in Global Development. London: MacMillan
Hutchful, E. (1991). The Ghana Institute for African Alternatives (IFAA): London
Mills, G. (1992). Zambia and the winds of change. The World Today.
Myers, R. (1987). The political morality of the International Monetary Fund. New York: Transaction Books.
Ndengwa, P. (1985). Africa’s development crisis and related international issues. Nairobi: Heinnemann
Stoneman, C. (1989). The World Bank and IMF in Zimbabwe in Structural Adjustment in Africa
Todaro, M. P. (1982). Economics for developing world. London and New York: Longman

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