Gender and Urban Agriculture: A Case Study of Three Communities in Greater Freetown, Sierra Leone

 The study examined Gender and Urban Agriculture in Freetown, the capital of Sierra
Leone. Within Freetown, urban and peri-urban locations in the Bormeh/Kingtom
dumpsite, New England/George Brook and Regent farming communities were
purposively selected for the study. The findings from the study suggest that majority
of farmers that are engaged in urban vegetable production are women and that they
contribute more to the labour for vegetable production than men. However, the
women are less involved in community decision-making thus affecting their access to
and control over productive resources. Generally urban farmers face numerous
constraints although female farmers tend to be more affected. If urban agriculture is to
be improved, policy makers should ensure gender equity in the accessibility to and
control over production resources and consider gender role differences and its
interrelated issues for all future development policy.