From September 13^th – 15^th, 2018, AWDF convened 27 activists, academics, development workers and knowledge producers to strategise and prioritise African women’s economic futures. This convening culminated from AWDF’s fourth strategic plan Shaping the Future, and the accompanying Futures Trends Analysis Report which highlighted the socio-economic implications of anticipated trends in Africa for women and girls. Over three (3) consecutive days, we had extensive conversations, workshop and group activities that helped us build sound advocacy strategies for African women’s economic futures. As an institution committed to resourcing African women’s movements, AWDF believes that this convening was the first step in a journey to better support future-oriented strategies to engender African women’s economic justice and security.

Bread and Butter is the post-convening knowledge series which aims to document the dynamic, critical and radical perspectives of African women thinking about their economic futures. The expression “bread and butter” refers both to the ways in which individuals come to sustain themselves usually through paid work and individuals’ practical, every day needs and concerns.

We understand this series as our reflection of both the subsistence and practical, every day needs and concerns of African women oriented to the future. We believe that African women’s economic issues are both internalised and challenged in every day acts of resistance and solution-building. We also aim to demystify economics as a white, male and Western concept out of reach for African women.
Indeed, we believe that all African women understand the consequences and solutions for oppressive neoliberal capitalist economic models and we seek to encourage their voices as economic actors, thinkers and shape shifters. We aim to get to the real “bread and butter” issues that women and girls face on this continent, and envision a future Africa that ensures women’s and girls’ sustainable livelihoods, meaningful labour, and full socio-economic autonomy. The series will feature a range of opinion pieces, research essays, poems, stories and narratives of and by African women, with a future-focused feminist economic lens.

We hope that this series will engender new conversations about how we support African women to pursue economic justice and security. We also hope to contribute to a larger conversation about how philanthropic institutions regionally and globally can better support African women’s economic interests, as described by African women, themselves.

Are you passionate about African women’s economic futures? Would you like to contribute to our Bread and Butter series? Are you interested in being a media partner for our series? For details or to pitch a concept, please email our Knowledge Management Specialist, rita@africlub.net/awdf.

Please click on the titles below, to read the knowledge products that were developed as a result of this convening.

AFRICAN WOMEN ECONOMIC FUTURES CONVENING REPORT