THEME: The poorer the household, the greater the woman's decision-making role, although it may not be socially recognized.

An IFAD study of survival, change and decision-making, undertaken between 1994 and 1995 in three villages in the Taforalt-Taourist Region of the Oujda Province in Eastern Morocco, found that women had a surprisingly large decision-making role at the household level. However, their decision-making is often 'behind the scenes', and therefore socially invisible. For instance:

• Women participate in decisions on livestock sales, particularly in poorer and more subsistence-oriented households.
• Women give their opinions when sharecropping arrangements are being considered.
• Women will express their preferences in terms of food crops to be grown in subsistence households, although the choices in rainfed areas are often very limited.
• Where women have their own poultry, they will decide when to sell it and will control the resulting income.
• Women are also consulted about children's schooling, health treatments and other relatively major expenditures.
• When home remedies are to be used, decisions on health treatments are taken by the wife.
• Women influence family decisions on where to live, and were found by the study to exert a strong influence on male children to migrate to the city and on female children to marry city men.
• Both parents discuss decisions on marriage and dowry.

The general rule seems to be that whenever money is involved, the final decision is the man's, and he will also be formally recognized as having made the decision. For instance, in the very poor and traditional villages of Taghilast and Eldouafi, women are usually consulted about major decisions affecting the welfare of the household. An example would be whether or not to sell a goat or a sheep to buy food for the family. In fact, a woman is likely be the one to inform her husband that they there is no more stored food, and suggest the sale. But the final decision will be the man's, and formally he will be recognized as having made it. It is men who decide on children's education, because of the cost implications. In health care, the woman makes decisions on home remedies, but when money is needed and the husband needs to provide it, then the decision is his.

Women's involvement in decision-making is greater in traditional subsistence households than in more market-oriented and monetized ones. In part, this may be a function of the existence of fewer cash-based decisions. But it is probably also influenced by women's greater production role in subsistence households. In highly vulnerable households, a small decision can often become a critical one, affecting the survival of the entire family, and is therefore also more likely to be shared.

A woman's decision-making within the household depends on her age and household status. The adult married woman has the power to decide what tasks are to be carried out and who is to do them. She usually supervises her daughters or any other younger women in the household. Men usually do not interfere in women's control of day-to-day household decisions, unless something that affects the men personally is not done (for example, if a meal is not cooked).

Women's participation in decision-making is hindered by their marginalization from information and knowledge. The study argues that women's limited mobility also constrains their access to information. This was evident when the study asked women about wealth and the wealthy in their village. They knew very little about other households. The study found that indirect access to information, through males, is inadequate, and can be highly selective. Incomplete information also undermines women's decision-making.

The fact that men have primary say in cash decisions can have important implications for development projects, particularly if promoting income-generating activities for women. Development initiatives will also have to pay attention to women's information needs and avoid assuming that women necessarily know what is available and how they can participate. Giving women better access to information can also become a basis for their empowerment and increased participation in decision-making.

Adapted from:

Survival, Change and Decision-Making in Rural Households: Three Village Case Studies from Eastern Morocco. IFAD: Rome, February (paper based on original research by Dr Rahma Bourqia)

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