tion. If one considers the estimation of total activity rates provided by the ILO, two structures appear: on the one hand in North Africa and in countries culturally close to it and those with a strong European cultural heritage like Cape Verde, 151 E/ECA/Ct<. 9/5 Seychelles and t-1auritius, the activity rate of women is very low, under 10 per cent; on the other hand, for countries south of the Sahara, the activity rate is much higher, the median rate being at 34 per·cent. These figures are high and larger than what is observed in ether developing countries. However they appeclr to be underestimated, even in the case of North Africa. In. an ar­ ticle entitled "viornen in agriculture", 1/ R. Dixon points; out this underestimation which comes from-the underestimaticm of women's activity in agriculture. On the basis of agricult.ural censuses and surveys carried out in the last 15 years or so, it appears that in Africa south of the Sahara, the share of women in agricultural activity is well over 50 per cent reaching even over 60 per cent in some cases. This is seen clearly in tabl~ IX.2 giving the distribution of agricultural labour force for 15 African countries for which data have been collected. In her ar­ ticle, R. Dixon indicates that for the whole of Africa south of the Sahara, the share of women in the agricultural labour force is at 45.9 per cent, the highest rate for all developing areas. For North Africa, she indicates that the contribution of women has been grossly underestimated and should be raised to a figure as high as 30 per cent. 16. It is therefore a well established fact that in Africa the share of women in agricultural work is much higher than in other regions of the world and most important, that at least south of 
**Analysis**
The text discusses the activity rates of women in various countries, particularly in Africa, and highlights the significant underestimation of women's participation in agricultural work. The focus on employment and activity rates suggests that the category is Employment.

**Category**
Employment, Agriculture, forestry and fishing