The author argues that, through colonization, decolonization, and globalization, women in Sub-Saharan Africa have been pushed off of the lands upon which they formerly relied to provide for themselves and their families. As far back as the customary land system, women have had limited rights and access to land, rendering them dependent on their husbands and other men. With the recent drive towards a more privatized land system and the prevalence of large-scale land acquisitions, foreign companies, governments, and other elites have transformed the land for their own commercial agriculture purposes. In doing so, they have also driven gender inequality by disadvantaging women in the labour market and alienating them from the land that was their primary source of income and sustenance. This article calls attention to the need for a more conscientious approach to economic development in this rapidly evolving region that will not systemically undermine the autonomy of women.