Gender tools for value chain analysis: Examples from groundnuts in Eastern Province, Zambia(Series Paper Number 21)

The commercialisation of ICRISAT’s mandate crops may have a negative impact on gender equity if men take control of decisions and roles that were previously controlled by women. This highlights the importance of gender analysis for value chain development. This discussion paper provides practical examples of tools that can be used to understand women’s role in the value chain, design gender-sensitive upgrading strategies, and measure changes in women’s control over decision-making for crop production and the use of crop income. The examples are based on the value chain for groundnuts in Eastern Province, Zambia. We summarise our experience of using these tools at a stakeholder workshop that included researchers, farmers, input suppliers, and processor

What do we mean by ‘women’s crops’? Commercialisation, gender, and the power to name

We explore the relationship between commercialisation and gender for groundnuts in Eastern Province, Zambia, using a mixed methods approach. Women saw themselves as having greater control over groundnuts than other crops, and both sexes saw groundnuts as controlled by women. Focus Group Discussions reported higher levels of control than found in a household survey. Propensity Score Matching showed that the machine shelling and higher sales did not reduce women’s perceived level of control over groundnuts. Women welcomed greater male participation in machine shelling because it reduced the drudgery of shelling by hand. This suggests that commercialisation did not disempower women

What do we mean by ‘women’s crops’? A mixed methods approach(Series paper Number 23)

A ‘Women’s Crop Tool’ was developed to measure women’s control over decision-making for crop production, sales, and use of income. We tested the tool for groundnuts in Eastern Province, Zambia, using a mixed methods approach that involved Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and a quantitative household survey. Women in FGDs reported higher levels of control than women in the household survey. We argue that the more extreme results from the FGDs are due to the nature of the research question over the ‘power to name’. FGDs provided a public space for a struggle over meaning that exposed latent conflicts over gender roles, gender identities, and the conjugal contract. Mechanization of groundnut shelling has increased male participation in this activity. We used Propensity Score Matching (PSM) to determine whether the introduction of shelling machines reduced women’s control over groundnuts, as measured by the weighted women’s gender control index (WGCI), constructed by aggregating the scores obtained from the Women’s Crop Tool. Results showed that the shelling machine significantly increased the women’s WGCI, while the area planted to groundnuts and the volume of groundnut sales had no significant effect on the women’s WGCI. Contrary to the conventional wisdom, therefore, the commercialization of groundnuts has not reduced women’s control over groundnuts, while women perceived that the introduction of the machine sheller had increased their control over decision-making

Towards a Green New Deal mitigating conflicts between pastoralists and farmers

Resource conflicts over land and water are common in Africa. Herders invade farms searching for pasture for their livestock, and croplands are encroaching into rangelands. These communal conflicts have intensified across Africa and are now widespread in Mali, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Sudan and Kenya

Are there “women’s crops”? A new tool for gender and agriculture

A “Gender Control Tool” was developed to measure women’s control over decision-making for agricultural production, sales, and use of income. The tool was tested for groundnuts in Eastern Province, Zambia, where mechanisation has increased male participation in groundnut shelling, and for goats in Gwanda district, Zimbabwe, where the introduction of auctions has increased investment and sales. A mixed methods approach was used, that involved focus group discussions (FGDs) and a quantitative household survey. This article compares the results obtained from these two methods and discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the tool in understanding how commercialisation affects women’s control

Do Commercialization and Mechanization of a “Women’s Crop” Disempower Women Farmers? Evidence from Zambia and Malawi

It is widely believed that commercialization and mechanization of food crops lead to disempowering women as men take over control from women. We argue that women are not necessarily discontent in the face of the agrarian transformation. By collecting sex-disaggregated panel data and applying a ‘women’s crop tool’, we analyze and rethink the implication of agricultural commercialization for intra-household gender relation among smallholder farmers through research on groundnut producers in southern Africa, where groundnut is largely regarded as a ‘women’s crop’. In addition to examining the effect of commercialization in Zambia and Malawi, small-scale post-harvest mechanization was provided experimentally to selected farmers in Zambia. The panel regression results show that commercialization did not lead to disempowering women in either country, which is consistent with the qualitative discussions with farmers held before the baseline surveys. Furthermore, by combining PSM and DID methods, it was found that machine shelling did not disempower women farmers either. The finding provides insights into how gender relation among smallholders is affected at the initial stage of commercialization and mechanization of ‘women’s crops’

Common beans: Benefits for farmers engaging in market-oriented production

In areas like Dororo, in Manica district, Central Mozambique, commercialization of common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is one of the most important strategies for farmers to improve their livelihoods. Young farmers and women especially invest in common beans as a way to build their assets and secure their family needs. Engaging in an Innovation Platform (IP), these farmers have learned that they can benefit more from common beans. Farmers observed how the integration of legume crops (common beans and mucuna) and livestock for soil fertility management through crop rotation, cover crops and manure reduces the dependence on external inputs. Combined with draft power animal management this has increased productivity and production of common beans. The IP has empowered farmers’ participation in markets. Farmers became more organized. Increased production and productivity allowed farmers to sell larger volumes in bulk. They now collectively decide at what time they would sell their produce and at what price, expecting 50% higher revenues than what they would get by selling individually. This leaflet illustrates common bean production and market practices generated through demonstrations in the MOREP project. They are useful for farmers in similar environments like in Manica district

Sustainable intensification of smallholder farming in central Mozambique: Benefits from better integration of crops and livestock

The Government of Mozambique gives particular importance to strategies for sustainable intensification of agriculture in the smallholder-farming sector, accounting for more than 95% of the total agricultural land. Better integration of crops and livestock is key to sustaining vital smallholder farming, rewarding higher agricultural production and improving the overall wellbeing of smallholder farms, especially in provinces like Tete and Manica, with high potential for crops and livestock. Farmers with animal draft power can cultivate larger parts of their land in time and are thereby able to also produce more feed, critical for improving animal performance. Better-managed and fed animals reproduce more, provide better draft services and avail manure as important source of locally available organic fertilizer. Farmers thereby increase production at reduced costs and risk, overall farm net returns increase more than through single technologies. These benefits can be harvested over large areas, and with different agro-ecological potential. Farmers with cattle cultivated more land than those without cattle: in Dororo, Manica province, with high agro-ecological potential, 4.4 ha as compared to 2.9 ha cropland; in drought prone Marara, Tete province, 3.1 ha of as compared to 2.1 ha. On average farmers with cattle made 20% higher cereal yields in Dororo, and 30% higher cereal yields in Marara. Yet 52% and 45 % of the households don’t have cattle in Dororo and Marara respectively. This leaflet illustrates the benefits from better integration of crops and livestock. We describe forage production and draft power animal management as two complementary technologies critical for sustainable intensification of smallholder farms, demonstrated in the MOREP project. These technologies are useful for farmers in similar environments like in Tete and Manica provinces

Innovation platforms in agricultural research for development

Innovation platforms are fast becoming part of the mantra of agricultural research for development projects and programmes. Their basic tenet is that stakeholders depend on one another to achieve agricultural development outcomes, and hence need a space where they can learn, negotiate and coordinate to overcome challenges and capture opportunities through a facilitated innovation process. Although much has been written on how to implement and facilitate innovation platforms efficiently, few studies support ex-ante appraisal of when and for what purpose innovation platforms provide an appropriate mechanism for achieving development outcomes, and what kinds of human and financial resource investments and enabling environments are required. Without these insights, innovation platforms run the risk of being promoted as a panacea for all problems in the agricultural sector. This study makes clear that not all constraints will require innovation platforms and, if there is a simpler and cheaper alternative, that should be considered first. Based on the review of critical design principles and plausible outcomes of innovation platforms, this study provides a decision support tool for research, development and funding agencies that can enhance more critical thinking about the purposes and conditions under which innovation platforms can contribute to achieving agricultural development outcomes

Innovation platforms in agricultural research for development : Ex-ante Appraisal of the Purposes and Conditions Under Which Innovation Platforms can Contribute to Agricultural Development Outcomes

Innovation platforms are fast becoming part of the mantra of agricultural research for development projects and programmes. Their basic tenet is that stakeholders depend on one another to achieve agricultural development outcomes, and hence need a space where they can learn, negotiate and coordinate to overcome challenges and capture opportunities through a facilitated innovation process. Although much has been written on how to implement and facilitate innovation platforms efficiently, few studies support ex-ante appraisal of when and for what purpose innovation platforms provide an appropriate mechanism for achieving development outcomes, and what kinds of human and financial resource investments and enabling environments are required. Without these insights, innovation platforms run the risk of being promoted as a panacea for all problems in the agricultural sector. This study makes clear that not all constraints will require innovation platforms and, if there is a simpler and cheaper alternative, that should be considered first. Based on the review of critical design principles and plausible outcomes of innovation platforms, this study provides a decision support tool for research, development and funding agencies that can enhance more critical thinking about the purposes and conditions under which innovation platforms can contribute to achieving agricultural development outcomes