A sectoral analysis of Trade openness and Women employment in selected East African Countries

Abstract

Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya improved their trade openness by 26 and 8 points, respectively, between 1995 and 1998 as a percentage of these countries’ gross domestic product. percent from 1998 to 2008. East African Community employment is dominated by agriculture, which motivated this study. Generally, this study pursued an analysis of openness of trade and women employment in selected EAC countries. The study examined the impact of openness of trade on both agriculture and service sector employment of women. In particular, the purpose of this study was to investigate how trade opening affects the employment of women in the agricultural sector in some EAC counties. and explore how trade opening affects the employment of women in the service sector in some counties of the EAC. The results show that trade opening had a negative impact on women’s employment in the agricultural sector, but had a positive impact on the service sector. This implies trade openness has shifted female employment pattern from agriculture to services sector. The study was conducted using a longitudinal panel design. The study concludes that efforts should be made to retain female workers in agriculture by retraining them, while promoting their employment through trade facilitation services and support with marketing. Concerning agricultural sector, the study recommends retraining of female workers in the agricultural sector to improve their skills set as well as providing credit to enable them move from lower cadre employment in agriculture.