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December, 2016
WATER, LAND,
ECOSYSTEMS AND TRADE
IN STAPLES (WaLETS)
Using regional trade in staples for equitable food and
nutrition security and ecosystem services in the EAC:
Gender Analysis Report
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This study was conducted under the CGIAR Research Programme on Water, Land and
Ecosystems (WLE) through a research project entitled: Water, Land, Ecosystems and Trade in
Staples (WaLETS): Using regional trade in staples for equitable food and nutrition security
and ecosystems services in the EAC. We would like to thank all the partners who participated
in conducting this study as well as the donors who supported this project through their
contributions to the CGIAR Fund.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ........................................................................................................... i
TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................ ii
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ....................................................................................................... iv
ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................................................... vi
KEY DEFINITIONS ................................................................................................................. ix
1. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 1
1.1. Objectives of the gender analysis study ...................................................................... 2
1.2. Structure of the report ................................................................................................. 3
2. METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................................. 4
2.1. Literature review ......................................................................................................... 4
2.2. Primary data collection ............................................................................................... 4
2.2.1 Data Collection Procedure ...................................................................................... 5
2.2.2 Limitation of the study ............................................................................................ 7
2.2.3 Data Management and Analysis ............................................................................. 7
3. GENDER ROLES IN AGRICULTURE ............................................................................ 8
3.1 Africa .......................................................................................................................... 8
3.2 East African Community ............................................................................................ 8
3.2.1 Gender roles in Rice Production ........................................................................... 12
3.2.1.1 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx..................................................................................... 13
3.2.2 Gender roles in bean production ........................................................................... 17
3.2.2.1 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx............................................... 20
3.2.3 Gender roles in Maize Production ........................................................................ 23
3.2.3.1 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx................................................... 26
4. CHALLENGES FACED IN AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION .................................. 30
5. GENDER ROLES IN ECOSYTEM MANAGEMENT ................................................... 34
5.1 Roles, responsibilities and access within the ecosystem in Uganda ......................... 34
5.2 Roles, responsibilities and access within the ecosystem in Kenya ........................... 37
5.3 Roles, responsibilities and access within the ecosystem in Rwanda ........................ 39
5.4 Challenges faced in executing activities within the ecosystem by gender ............... 39
5.5 Control, Access and Decision making over resources within the ecosystems by
gender ....................................................................................................................... 41
5.6 Crop production and trade ........................................................................................ 42
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5.7 Food Security crops within the EAC ........................................................................ 42
6. CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................. 44
7. RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................................................................. 45
REFERENCES ......................................................................................................................... 47
CASE STUDY 1: RWANDA ................................................................................................... 51
CASE STUDY 2: TANZANIA: MOMBO SCHEME IN TANGA REGION ......................... 60
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report is a product of a study that was initiated as part of the project entitled: Water,
Land, Ecosystems, and Trade in Staples (WaLETS): Using regional trade in staples for
equitable food and nutrition security and ecosystems services in the East African Community
(EAC) region. WaLETS is a two-year project funded by the CGIAR Research Programme
on Water, Land, and Ecosystems (WLE) to investigate ways in which policies, investments,
and practices in the five (5) key EAC countries can prioritize trade-based approach to: (i)
resilient food and nutrition security; (ii) sustained provision of ecosystem services; and, (iii)
equitable access to ecosystem benefits across gender groups.
State the specific gender objectivesThe specific objectives of the project are to:
Establish the gaps in EAC country-specific key policies and strategies influencing
ecosystem services and trade-based food security with gender equity;
Develop a Geographical Information Systems (GIS) database and maps of agro-
ecosystem suitability and the extent of matching differences between resource endowment
and actual use for production of staple crops (i.e., maize, beans, and rice) in selected EAC
agro-ecologies;
Assess the gender dynamics in water, land, ecosystem, and trade in food staples in the
EAC; and,
Develop scenarios that support reversal of the degradation of ecosystem while meeting
the increasing food demands through regional trade.
Kilimo Trust (Uganda) is leading the consortium of implementing institutions, Including the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO), Ministry of
Agriculture and Food Security (Tanzania), Rwanda Agricultural Board (RAB), and
International Food and Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
The study used both primary and secondary data. The former was collected through Focus
Group Discussions in all the AEZs and by interviewing key informants and stakeholders.
The report presents result of gender dynamics on water, land, ecosystem and trade in food
staples in the EAC. The key findings on the gender dynamics are;
Males and females play different roles in ecosystem management, crop production and
trade. For ecosystem use, women mainly exploit the resources for household welfare such
as firewood and water, while men focus on income generating activities like fishing,
charcoal burning and rice farming.
Control and decision making on ecosystem resources use is mainly by the men. However,
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women dominate in providing the labor for crops production; while marketing and control
of proceeds from agricultural produce is dominated by the men except in Rwanda where
all activities are equally shared between men and women.
To address the gender gaps identified, the study recommended the following;
EAC Partner States and development partners should sup- port the private sector to
innovate and promote labor saving technologies that are women friendly.
EAC Partner States should enforce the articles and strategies enshrined under the National
Land Policies that call for equity and justice in land transmission, access and use
irrespective of gender.
Governments and development partners should continue undertaking sensitization
campaigns targeting mind and attitude change on gender within the farming communities
to enhance the participation of both men and women in decision making as well as access
to and control of eco- system resources.
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ABBREVIATIONS
ACDI-VOCA Agricultural Cooperative Development International – Volunteers In Overseas
Cooperative Assistance
AEZs Agro – Ecological Zones
AfDB African Development Bank
ARI Agricultural Research Institute
CGIAR Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research
CHHs Children Headed Households
CIP Crop Intensification Program
EAC East African Community
FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nation
FFS Farmer Field School
FGD Focus Group Discussion
GIS Geographical Information System
HHS Households
IFAD International Fund for Agricultural Development
IFPRI International Food Policy Research Institute
IWMI International Water Management Institute
JICA Japan International Cooperation Agency
KARI Kenya Agricultural Research Institute
KARLO Kenya Agricultural Research Organization
KII Key Informant Interview
LUC Land Use Consolidation
MAAIF Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries
MAAR Ministry of Agriculture Animal Resources, Rwanda
MIGEPROF Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion
MHHs Male Headed Households
NAADS National Agricultural Advisory Services
NaCRRI National Crops Resources Research Institute
NISR National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda
NGOs Non-Governmental Organizations
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NSCA National Sample Census in Agriculture
PWD People with Disability
RAB Rwanda Agricultural Board
REMA Rwanda Environment Management Authority
RLDC Rural Livelihood Development Company
RoR Republic of Rwanda
SACCOs Savings and Credit Cooperative Organizations
UBOS Uganda Bureau of Statistics
UNDP HDR The United Nations Development Program - Human Development Report
UNRISD United Nations Research Institute for Social Development
USAID The United States Agency for International Development
UPPAP Uganda Participatory Poverty Assessment Process
WaLETS Water, Land, Ecosystems and Trade in Staples
WLE Water, Land and Ecosystem
WHHs Women Headed Households
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LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: The study Area and Sampling ......................................................................................... 4
Table 2: List of targeted responding Key Informants................................................................... 6
Table 3: Activities undertaken by the farmer groups interviewed ............. Error! Bookmark not
defined.
Table 4: Activities executed within the ecosystems in Western Uganda by gender ................ 35
Table 5: Activities executed within the ecosystems in Tanzania by gender............................. 38
Table 6: Gender executing activities in maize production by country ....... Error! Bookmark not
defined.
Table 7: Activities executed in bean production by gender in Uganda ..... Error! Bookmark not
defined.
Table 8: Activities executed in bean trade by gender in Uganda Error! Bookmark not defined.
Table 9: Activities executed in rice production by gender within the EAC countries ....... Error!
Bookmark not defined.
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KEY DEFINITIONS
Access to and control over resources: Refers to the concept that individuals have the access
to resources for carrying out their activities and the command they have over the benefits
derived from these activities.
Gender: refers to socially constructed roles and responsibilities of women and men, and
includes expectations held about characteristics, and likely behaviours of both men and women;
the roles that we learn to fill from childhood onward.
Gender analysis: is a tool for examining the differences between the roles that women and men
play, the different levels of power they hold, their differing needs, constraints and opportunities,
and the impact of these differences on their lives.
Gender assessment: is a review—from a gender perspective—of a current or recently
completed project or activity. It assesses how a project addresses and responds to gender
dynamics and inequalities in technical programming, policies and practices. The assessment
highlights successes and gaps in programming, identifying new opportunities to improve future
programming. It often incorporates aspects of a gender analysis study because it requires an
understanding of gender inequality in a given setting.
Gender audit: evaluates how gender considerations are being integrated into programs and
policies by an organization, department or office. Audits assess gender approaches and policies,
staff capacity, tools and resources, gender mainstreaming in programs and projects,
organizational culture and workplace issues. Overall, an audit will monitor relative progress
made in mainstreaming and identify successes as well as critical gaps. Additionally, gender
audits can integrate components of gender assessments to measure the impact of interventions
on beneficiaries.
Gender equality: refers to the absence of discrimination on the basis of a person’s sex in
opportunities, allocation of resources/benefits, or in access to services i.e. equal participation
and decision-making power by men and women.
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Gender equity: refers to fairness and justice in the distribution of responsibilities and benefits
between men and women.
Gender mainstreaming: the process of assessing the implications for women and men of any
planned action, including legislation, policies or programs, in any area and at all levels. It is a
strategy for making the concerns and experiences of women and men an integral part of the
design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programs in all political,
economic and societal spheres, so that women and men benefit equally.
Gender roles and responsibilities: Ways in which a culture or society defines rights,
responsibilities, and identities of men and women in relation to one another.
Gender sensitive: Being aware of the differences between women’s and men’s needs, roles,
responsibilities, and constraints.
Participatory: this means the study should involve clients, stakeholders, staff, donors and
project participants, who should all have the opportunity to speak for themselves and share their
experiences, perceptions and beliefs. While sharing this information, the facilitator or researcher
should guide them toward a reflexive process of self-analysis.
Productive role/work: Its work done by both women and men for payment in cash or kind. It
includes both market production with an exchange value, and subsistence/home production with
an actual use-value, but also a potential exchange value.
Reproductive role/work: Includes not only biological reproduction but also the care and
maintenance of the workforce (husband and working children) and the future workforce (infants
and school-going children.)
Sex: refers to the genetic and physiological characteristics and traits that indicate whether one
is male or female.
Stakeholders: are individuals or groups who have a vested interest in the outcome of your
gender study or the particular issues/processes your study is assessing. They have the potential
to influence or be impacted by your gender study and their interests, viewpoint, or influence
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must be recognized for your work to be successful. Stakeholders can include: individuals,
international and national NGOs, donor organizations, civil society groups, the government of
the country where your gender study is taking place, leaders and program participants (i.e.,
beneficiaries).
Gender composition definitions
Adult female: Is any female within the age brackets of 35 years and 65 years old
Adult male: Is any male within the age brackets of 35 years and 65 years old
Boy: Is any male within the age brackets of 10 years and 18 years old
Female youth: Is any female within the age brackets of 18 years and 35 years old
Girl: Is any female within the age brackets of 10 years and 18 years old
Male youth: Is any male within the age brackets of 18 years and 35 years old
The elderly male: Is any male that is above the age of 65 years old
The elderly female: Is any female that is above the age of 65 years old
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1. INTRODUCTION
In most countries, communities and households, men and women perform different roles;
have different responsibilities and often unequal statuses. Frequently, women have less
ownership and control over assets, reduced decision-making capacity and fewer educational
and economic opportunities than men, making women and men have different experiences,
knowledge, talents and needs (ACDI-VOCA, 2012). Due to these gender differences,
development initiatives affect male and female beneficiaries in vastly different ways.
Without a deliberate consideration of gender dynamics, women often encounter obstacles
to participating in, and benefiting from, development projects (ibid). Understanding gender
issues is therefore essential for effective development.
Gender analysis explores gender differences so that policies, programs and projects can
identify and meet the different needs of men and women. It also facilitates the strategic use
of the distinct knowledge and skills women and men possess. Gender analysis is carried out
to: design and implement development projects in a way that closes gender inequality gaps
so that both women and men benefit from development and are equitably empowered;
understand how gender roles, responsibilities and inequalities affect the project’s
effectiveness and the sustainability of its results.
Gender roles, responsibilities and inequalities can and do affect the ability to achieve broad-
based economic growth, strong communities and food security in emerging market
countries. According to FAO (2011), if women had equal access to, and control over
productive resources, agricultural production yields would increase by 20% - 30%, which
could, in turn, increase the total agricultural output in developing countries by 2.5% - 4%
and reduce the number of hungry individuals in the world by 12% - 17.2 %. More so,
women allocate a greater percentage of their incomes to household and family expenses
than men. When women and girls earn income, it is estimated that they reinvest 90% of it
into their families, compared to only 30% - 40% for men. Thus, increasing women’s
incomes or enabling women to have greater influence over economic decisions would
typically mean more income for food, health, education and nutrition for the family. For
this matter, efforts to increase food security and reduce poverty should be accompanied by
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efforts to ensure that men and women are able to equitably access and benefit from
development opportunities.
Water, Land, Ecosystems and Trade in Staples (WaLETS) is a research project that is being
implemented by a consortium led by Kilimo Trust. The other partners are: The Tanzania
Ministry of Agriculture; Livestock and Fisheries; Kenya Agricultural and Livestock
Research Organization; Rwanda Agriculture Board and the International Food Policy
Research Institute. WaLETS is focusing on regional trade in staple crops for equitable food
and nutrition security and ecosystems services in the East African Community (EAC).
One of the objectives of the project is to look at current status and ways of empowering
women and youth to better deliver on food and nutrition security as well as creation of
wealth at national and regional levels by contributing to the transformation of food and
nutrition security in the EAC region away from high risk subsistence farming into lower
risk trade-based systems – with a vision to see: i) specialization in production of staples
with effective utilization of agro-ecological comparative advantages by smallholder
producers who are “doing farming as a business” in a competitive way; ii) a structured
regional trade in food staples driven by the private sector business linkages for each
commodity; and iii) a high proportion of the food commodities (especially perishables)
produced in the EAC, being transformed to differentiated value-added products preferred
by the final consumer. This project is being implemented in five countries within the EAC
- Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi with emphasis on rice, maize and bean
value chains.
1.1. Objectives of the gender analysis study
(i) Determine the roles and responsibilities of the different gender categories of people
in relation to ecosystems management, production and trade of maize, rice and beans
within the EAC.
(ii) Determine the access to and control over resources by the different gender categories
of people in relation to ecosystems management, production and trade of maize, rice
and beans within the EAC.
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(iii)Explore participation in decision making by the different gender categories with
regard to ecosystems management, production and trade of maize, rice and beans
within EAC.
(iv) Establish the factors influencing access to and control of resources and design of
roles and responsibilities by the different gender categories.
1.2. Structure of the report
The report consists of five chapters. Chapter two describes the methodology while chapter
three presents the results from both secondary and primary data analysis.
Chapter four and five are the conclusion and recommendations respectively. Two case
studies – from Rwanda and Tanzania are presented in the next section.
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2. METHODOLOGY
The study used secondary information from all the five countries participating in the project
implementation (Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi) and primary data from
four countries. Primary data was not collected from Burundi because of the political
instability within the country at the time.
2.1. Literature review
The initial phase of the gender analysis began with a review of available literature on gender
dynamics in relation to ecosystem management, production and trade of rice, maize and
beans from the five participating countries as well as other African countries. This was
undertaken in order to understand the socio-economic context of target population in
relation to gender. The review of literature was also conducted to establish the gaps in data
that would be collected in the primary data collection phase.
2.2.Primary data collection
Primary data was collected from the nine agro ecological zones. Except Rwanda that is
implementing the project in three Agro-Ecological Zones (AEZs), the other four countries
are each operating in only two AEZs as shown in Table 1.
Table 1: The Study Area
Country Agro-Ecological Zones
Uganda Kyoga plains (suitable for rice, maize and bush beans)
Mountain/ Southwest (suitable for climbing beans)
Kenya Upper midland zone 1 (UM1): Busia County (suitable for rice)
Upper midland zone 1 (UM1): Kakamega County (suitable for maize and
beans)
Tanzania Southern highland (suitable for maize, rice and beans)
Lake zone - more of rainfed agriculture (marginally unsuitable unless
interventions take place)
Rwanda Buberuka highlands (suitable for beans): Districts: Burera, Gicumbi, and
Rulindo
Eastern Savannah (marginally suitable for maize): Districts: Nyagatare,
Gatsibo, and Kayonza. Bugarama low-land (suitable for rice): District:
Bugarama
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Country Agro-Ecological Zones
Eastern Plateau (midlands) “suitable” for maize: Districts: Rwamagana and
Ngoma
Eastern Plateau (suitable for rice): Districts: Rwamagana, Ngoma and Kirehe
2.2.1 Data Collection Procedure
Primary data was collected through Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and by interviewing
key informants and stakeholders. A focus group discussion guide and key
informant/stakeholder questionnaire were developed as the key primary data collection tools
(Appendices 3, 4 and 5).
The groups interviewed in all the four countries (Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda)
mainly had a composition of women, men and youth, although there were some cases of
girls, boys, elderly and People with Disability (PWD) within the membership composition
(Appendix 1). The main form of disability was being lame on the leg and arm impairment.
The groups had specific activities/tasks that they performed as shown in Table 3.
Table 2: Groups and Activities undertaken
Country The group name Activities undertaken by the group
Uganda
Rwini – Amuga Maize farming, rice farming, group saving
Self Help Rice farming, vegetable growing, group saving
Kariko Crop production, soil and water conservation, goat rearing,
handcraft (restricted to women)
Habubaare Crop production, saving and credit, soil and water
conservation, goat rearing, handcraft (restricted to women),
transporting the sick to hospital (restricted to men)
Tanzania KIUMAT Revolving fund and maize production
Rudi Rice production, storage and marketing
Majengo AMCOS Maize, rice and beans production
Rwanda Turwanyinzara Maize, beans and peas production
Isukirakiza Rice and maize production
KOAIRWA Rice production
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Abemeramihigo ba
mwogo
Maize and beans production
Copaabimu Maize, beans, wheat and potato production
Twigire-
muhinzi/mujuga
Maize, potato, wheat, beans and pigeon pea production
Twegeranyingufu Rice production
CORICYA Rice production
Twizamure - Cyuve Maize and beans production
Kenya Rwambwa Rice production
Munaka Rice production
Malishambi CBO Maize and beans production
(See Appendix 1 for composition of these groups)
The data collection team (enumerators) in each country was trained on the tools that were
pretested before use in the actual data collection. Each implementing country conducted at
least one FGD per suitable commodity within the respective AEZs. Key Informant
Interviews (KIIs) were conducted both within the AEZs of focus and at district/national
level. The number of KIIs varied depending on the country but the main emphasis was on
the list provided in Table 2. For each FGD, females and males were interviewed separately
because: (i) females and males commonly have differing preferences/interests, (ii) females
and males face different challenges or even similar challenges but in differing degrees, (iii)
in some cultural/traditional setting, females are not very free to express themselves in the
presence of male counterparts.
Table 3: List of targeted responding Key Informants
Category Key Informant respondents
Trade Cooperative members, wholesalers/traders
Processors Individual processors (small and large)
Gender experts Experts at different level (ministry, districts, sub counties)
District/subcounty
officials
District Agricultural officer
District Commercial Officer
District Community Development Officer
Environmental/wetland officers at district/community level
Research Research technicians and officers
(See Appendix 2 for actual KIs interviewed)
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2.2.2 Limitation of the study
The study used primary data collected through FGDs and key informants only. It did not
consider household data that could have presented a household by household case. The
group interview takes the consensus view that may not represent what happens in every
household within the area of focus.
The study may not completely represent the EAC region because the primary data was
restricted to the pilot AEZs where the project is being implemented (mainly 2 per country).
More so, the primary data was collected from only 4 countries within the EAC (Uganda,
Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda)
2.2.3 Data Management and Analysis
This study was qualitative in nature, as such the data collection team of each country
summarized the responses for each FGD and KIIs on MSword, following the respective
questionnaires. The data from each AEZ/country was compared across themes of focus
(ecosystem management, production and trade of maize, rice and beans) with emphasis on
responsibilities, control and access of resources as well as decision making for each gender
category.
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3. GENDER ROLES IN AGRICULTURE
3.1 Africa
Women in Africa play a key role in agricultural production, food processing and marketing,
making agriculture central to women’s livelihoods. Women are involved in the production
and domestication of plants and animals; they are knowledgeable in seed selection and
vegetative propagation; they understand how plants and animals grow and reproduce; and
they plant trees (Senay, 2012). More so, women participate in food production activities
such as land preparation, weeding, harvesting, threshing, transportation and usage. They also
broadly support agricultural development through soil and water conservation, afforestation
and crop domestication (World Bank, 2009; FAO, 2011).
In many African states, distribution of crops to the local markets, especially food crops,
entails arduous head-loading by women (World Bank, 2009). Rural women in particular are
responsible for half of the world’s food production and produce between 60% - 80% of the
food in most developing countries (UNDP, 2010). Women comprise 20% – 50% of the
agricultural labor force in developing countries (FAO, 2011); and 79% of women in least
developed countries who are economically active depend on agriculture as their primary
economic activity (Doss, 2011). It is noted from the economic rationale point of view that if
women farmers were given the same access to resources, such as finance, women’s
agricultural yields could increase by 20 - 30%; national agricultural production could rise
by 2.5 - 4.0%; and the number of malnourished people could be reduced by 12 - 17% (FAO,
2011). It has also been observed that, if African women were given equal access as men to
vocational training and technology, the continent’s economy would expand by at least 40%
(Krause, 2011). Therefore, mainstreaming gender in agriculture and food security by
ensuring gender-sensitive policies and programming decisions, giving women greater voice
in decision-making, would help in boosting agricultural production and food security
(Senay, 2012) while sustainably utilizing the ecosystem services.
3.2 East African Community
Just like Africa as whole, women play a key role in the agricultural sector within the East
African Community (EAC), but the extent to which they are involved varies across countries
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and the value of the crop. For instance in Uganda, 72% of all employed women and 90% of
all rural women work in agriculture (Ahabwe, 2011) compared to 53% of rural men. Women
are also responsible for 90% of the total food production in Uganda and 50% of cash crop
production.
Also in Uganda, male farmers produce cash crops while female farmers specialize in
subsistence crops but the latter provide labor for the male cash crop production (FAO, 2013;
Kasente et al., 2000; NAADS, 2003). More so, evidence shows that when a subsistence crop
is commercialized, male farmers take over its production and marketing (UPPAP, 2002).
For instance, in Uganda, the importance of bananas, initially regarded as a woman’s crop
that traditionally was both eaten and sold on a small scale to urban traders, grew. As the crop
became a major source of cash, men increasingly moved to control the income from their
sale.
Similarly, in Tanzania and Kenya, men shifted to production of food crops primarily
controlled by women (United Nations, 2008); following increased market demand and
profitability of these commodities. Sadly, where a cash crop decreases in profitability, the
reverse can happen. For instance, in the nineties, men in Apac district in Uganda took an
interest in marketing of sesame, but when profitability fell, they were contented to leave the
crop to women (FAO, 2000). Nevertheless, in some cases, where crops are not eaten but are
produced exclusively for sale (such as tobacco and cotton), men may continue to control
their marketing and income, even if profitability is low (FAO, 2000).
In contrast to women’s extensive participation in agricultural production, their access to and
control of agricultural resources including land is more limited than that of men (Rubin and
Manfre, 2012). In Uganda, only 7% of women own land (Kambona, 2003) while in Tanzania
and Kenya the figures are less than 5% and 30%, respectively (United Nations, 2008). In
some cases, women have no control over cash generated from agricultural activities despite
their important role in production. That means when women cultivate their crops, the profits
are handed over to their husbands (World Bank, 2005)
Regarding decision-making, female farmers attest to making decisions on their managed
plots although males from within the same households indicate that they take the final
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decision even for female-managed plots (Behrman et al. 2011). Labor division by gender
varies by region and farming system, although it can also change over time or in response to
market conditions. However, some tasks are almost exclusively undertaken by men, and
some by women. Women usually undertake sowing, harvesting, head loading of produce,
crop-drying, winnowing, seed selection, pig and poultry-rearing and bartering sunflower
seeds for oil. Other tasks, such as weeding, bagging and crop storage, are almost equally
undertaken by both women and men. It is estimated that women perform 85% of the
planting, 85% of the weeding, 55% of land preparation and 98% of all food processing
(FAO, 2000). Culturally, women do not usually make decisions without the consent of either
their husbands or their male peers at farm level because overall, women do not own land
(ibid).
Specifically, in Burundi, Adélaïde (2012) stated that women mostly deal with rural activities
of ploughing, sowing, weeding, harvesting, transporting, storing, processing and marketing
agricultural products and yet they neither have access to nor control over the profits. They
also do not have the power to decide on the use of the profits. Men are mainly involved in
the production of industrial crops that generate income. Although men and children
sometimes offer help to the women in food production, the plight of women is exacerbated
by a lack of access to improved technologies (Adélaïde, 2012).
Tanzania on the other hand, has male and female farmers jointly participating in growing
food and cash crops to some extent, and the heterogeneity of tribal societies further
complicates attempts at generalizations of men and women specific agricultural
responsibilities. However, there are patterns in men and women agricultural tasks as many
of them tied to differing responsibilities for cash and food crops. By most accounts, women
in Tanzania take charge of weeding, harvesting, processing and storing food crops; they also
contribute significantly to these tasks for cash crops, though men tend to help more with
agricultural tasks for cash crops (Ellis, 2007). In particular, men tend to contribute more in
the tasks of site clearing, land preparation, and heavy-labor tasks like construction of fences.
FAO (2000) through an extension project in Mogabiri, Mara region cited that in crop
production, men and women participate fairly equally in land clearance, land preparation,
sowing and planting, while women mostly take responsibility for weeding, harvesting,
transportation, threshing, processing and storage. Analysis of the Tanzania National Sample
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Census in Agriculture (NSCA) data from 2002-03 statistics found significant differences
between men’s and women’s agricultural responsibilities with female providing up to 56%
of labor hours required for general crop production as opposed to men giving only 44%.
More so, females provided 75%, 56%, 74%, 70% and 71% of labor hours required for food
crop production, land tilling, sowing, weeding and harvesting, respectively.
In the case of Rwanda, according to (MAAR, 2010) both males and females participate in
agricultural production although the main source of labor force is women, providing 80% of
the labor required for agricultural related activities whereas men predominantly own the
land. Marketing and spraying are dominated by men while weeding and processing are
dominated by women. Both men and women provide more or less equal labor requirements
for planting, harvesting, sourcing for and application of manure/fertilizer. Although the
division of labor by gender is observed with respect to certain tasks, most labor activities
like planting and weeding are jointly undertaken by men and women while operations such
as manure application and stocking are mainly carried out by women (MAAR, 2010). Men
are responsible for 67% of the land clearing, whereas women do 80%, 65%, 61% and 72%,
respectively, of sowing, food processing, hoeing, and storage and transportation of produces.
Other tasks typical for women include cleaning, cattle feeding, and food processing and
selling. Although women are responsible for 34% of marketing of agricultural products, they
do not always make the decisions on the income from the sales (REMA, 2010). Women
provide much of the labor in field and post-harvest activities while males participate in field
activities, both on household and personal plots (REMA, 2010).
In Kenya, data from the agriculture sector shows that women undertake 80% of food
production, 50% of cash crop production, 80% of food storage and transport from farm to
the home, 90% of weeding, and 60% of harvesting and 30% of marketing of crops (AfDB,
2007). Women generally plant food crops, weed, carry out most of the post-harvest handling,
run small-scale businesses such as selling farm produce, care for the children, prepare food,
clean the house, and collect water and firewood. Men are mainly involved in hoeing, cash-
crop planting, livestock herding, construction activities, and buying and selling of large
animals. Indeed, in many parts of Kenya, herd management comprises up to 70% of men’s
work time (AfDB, 2007).
12 | P a g e
3.2.1 Gender roles in Rice Production
Men and women play specific roles in the production of rice with varying levels and roles
across countries. According to Odogola (2006), in Uganda, men are mainly responsible for
land preparation, ploughing (in the case of low-land rice), raising nursery beds, fertilizer and
pesticide application, milling and marketing whereas women are mainly responsible for
weeding, bird scaring (where children go to school), harvesting, transporting the crop home
and drying it. Both women and men more or less equally perform tilling the land (in case of
upland rice) and storage of the dried crop though the latter hardly participate in the other
postharvest processes. Nevertheless, after the crop has dried, men almost exclusively take
over the responsibilities of milling and eventual marketing of the crop. Much as women are
the main labor force in rice production, the sharing of proceeds from the crop usually
disproportionally goes to the men. In most cases, the woman may not even know how much
money was earned from the sales of rice; neither will they know the utilization avenues for
such proceeds (Odogola, 2006). Hyuha, et al (2005) on the other hand, noted that men’s role
in rice production is more pronounced in land preparation, bird scaring and marketing, while
women are largely confined to planting and weeding. MAAIF (2009) reported that women
play a major role in rice production, executing the tasks of field opening, planting, weeding,
bird scaring, harvesting, threshing, processing and marketing and yet the proceeds from rice
sales do not trickle down to them. Youth are less involved in rice production as they prefer
to seek jobs in urban areas. Men dominate the decisions of ‘who should work in the rice
fields’ as well as ‘who within the home should sell the rice’ (MAAIF, 2009).
In Tanzania, women play a major role in rice sector by being involved in all aspects of rice
value chain particularly planting, weeding, bird scaring, harvesting, processing and trading.
Nevertheless, land preparation and rice marketing are dominated by men, while both men
and women are engaged in rice harvesting and threshing. Relatedly, JICA (2010) reported
that women play significant roles throughout the value chain processes of rice production
right from providing agricultural inputs, production, post-harvest handling, processing, and
marketing. In addition, women farmers are active as local and semi-local traders of rice,
especially during dry seasons. Some women have become professional rice traders,
however, they are constrained by inadequate access to finance, mainly due to their limited
13 | P a g e
access to land and property. On the other hand, most external and large-scale traders are men
who have easy access to finance and other necessary infrastructure. The introduction of
agricultural machinery has been mostly focused on power tillers and ploughs, which are
mostly operated by male farmers (JICA, 2010).
For the case of Kenya, men, women and children are involved in rice production at various
levels. Men are mainly involved in land preparation and transportation whereas women and
children do the planting, weeding, bird scaring, harvesting, threshing and drying. Rice
marketing is carried out by both men and women although women dominate the local retail
rice businesses (Ministry of Agriculture, 2008).
3.2.1.1 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Rice is produced both as food and cash crop in all the EAC countries with the participation
of both males and females in the execution of the production activities as shown in Table 9
Table 4: Activities executed in rice production by gender within the EAC countries
Activity Gender category executing activity
Reason for
specific gender
executing activity
Uganda Tanzania Rwanda Kenya
Land
preparation
Male
Adult
60%
Male
youth
40%
Youth
male
50%,
Adult
male
30%,
adult
female
10%,
youth
female
10%
Adult male
50%
Adult female
50%
Adult male
70%,
Adult female
30%
This is considered
the man’s activity
because of the
physical strength
required in
executing it. Also,
use of ox-plough
especially in
Tanzania that can
be handled by
men. In Rwanda,
it’s a shared
activity between
men and women
Nursery bed
preparation
Male
Adult
60%
Male
youth
40%
------------
----
---------------
-
--------------- Requires physical
strength
14 | P a g e
Activity Gender category executing activity
Reason for
specific gender
executing activity
Uganda Tanzania Rwanda Kenya
Planting rice
in nursery
----------
-----
------------
--
---------------
-
Adult female
70%, Youth
male 20%,
Adult male
10%
---------------------
Transplanting ----------
----
------------
-------
---------------
----
Adult female
90%, Adult
male 10%
-------------------
Planting Female
adult
(50%)
Male
adult
(50%)
Youth
male
20%,
adult male
10%,
adult
female
30%,
youth
female
30%, girls
and boys
10%
Adult male
100%
It’s a shared
responsibility
between man and
woman , although
in Rwanda its
considered a
man’s job
Weeding Female
Adult
50%
Female
Youth
30%
Male
adult
(10%)
Male
youth
(10%)
Adult
female
45%,
youth
female
35%, boys
10% and
girls 10%
Adult male
50%
Adult female
50%
Adult and
youth
females
90%, Adult
male 10%
It’s considered a
woman’s activity
but in Rwanda, it’s
a shared
responsibility
between men and
women
Pest control
using
chemical
----------
-
------------
----
---------------
-----
Adult and
youth males
100%
It is the males who
are responsible for
handling chemical
spraying
Bird scaring Boys
(30%)
Male
youth
(40%)
Adult
male
100%
Adult male
50%
Adult female
50%
Adult and
youth males
80%, Adult
and youth
females 20%
It’s considered a
man’s role.
15 | P a g e
Activity Gender category executing activity
Reason for
specific gender
executing activity
Uganda Tanzania Rwanda Kenya
Male
adult
(30%)
Irrigation ----------
-------
Youth
male
20%,
adult male
80%
Adult male
100%
---------------
------
It’s considered a
man’s role.
Harvesting Female
Adult
40%
Female
Youth
30%
Male
Adults
30%
Adult
female
30%,
Youth
female
30%,
Youth
male
20%,
Adult
male
15%,
Girls/boys
5%
Adult male
50%
Adult female
50%
Adult and
youth males
90%, Adult
and youth
females 10%
It’s considered a
woman’s role. In
Rwanda, it’s a
shared
responsibility
between men and
women
Post-harvest
handling
Female
Adult
70%
Male
Adult
30%
------------
--------- Drying: Adult male
50% & adult
female 50%
Winnowing: Adult female
100%
Packaging:
Adult male
50% & adult
male 50%
Threshing:
Adult &
youth
females
70%; Adult
& youth
males 30%
Winnowing: Adult &
youth
females
100%
Drying: Adult &
youth
females
60%, Youth
males 30%,
It’s considered a
woman’s role
except in Rwanda
where the
responsibility is
shared equally
between men and
women
16 | P a g e
Activity Gender category executing activity
Reason for
specific gender
executing activity
Uganda Tanzania Rwanda Kenya
Adult males
10%
Packaging &
transporting
----------
----
------------
---- ---------------
-----
Adult males
70%, Youth
males 20%,
Adult &
youth
females 10%
Men have readily
available transport
like bicycles.
Also, it’s a job that
requires a lot of
physical energy –
thus men can
handle
------Data on activity was not provided
The resources used in the production of rice are controlled by males although they are used
by all gender categories involved in executing rice production activities depending on the
respective activities for which they will be used. The other gender categories must seek for
the consent of the adult male who is in control of the resource before using it in production.
In Kenya, most (80%) of the rice trading is by adult males. Women’s rice trading is mainly
through organized groups that link up with cooperatives for the purpose of collective
marketing and better bargaining power, whereas men conduct rice trade both individually
and through cooperatives. Much as women participate in rice marketing, men are the key
decision makers even in cooperatives where the majority of members of management that
makes decisions are men. Also, the women’s groups usually have one educated man who
helps to influence their group decisions e.g. group ownership of land. The women solely
make decisions in the absence of men like the case of purely female headed households. In
Uganda, rice is traded in the milled form and all the activities involved in its marketing
(identifying the market, deciding the quantity to sell, packaging, weighting, transporting to
the market and negotiating for price) are executed by the men. The proceeds from rice sale
and the decision on the use of the proceeds are dominated by men. Women may influence
by advising on the use of the proceeds but the final decision is taken by the men. Rice in
Rwanda is marketed by cooperatives where its membership including management is
comprised of men and women. Control and decisions regarding sale and use of proceeds
from rice is by the cooperatives management. In Tanzania, rice is traded both as paddy and
17 | P a g e
milled rice with men and women deciding 60% and 40% respectively of the form to trade.
Women are in charge of winnowing, sorting and grading while men package, transport and
conduct the actual sale of the rice. Men control and also make decisions on the use of
proceeds from the sale of rice because they are the heads of the households.
3.2.2 Gender roles in bean production
The gender roles and responsibilities in bean production varied across the EAC countries
depending on the value of the crop. In Uganda, the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS)
Census of Agriculture - 2008/2009 revealed that women predominantly performed most of
the bean value chain related activities like land preparation, planting, weeding, harvesting,
and marketing. Men were more involved in marketing, pest and disease management. The
whole family, including, children jointly perform activities like planting, weeding and
harvesting. About 71.1% of land used for bean production was owned by the husbands (men)
while wives (women) owned only 10.5%; implying that men still have control over bean
production land and therefore make important decisions for its use. More so, men dominate
decisions regarding pest and disease control/management whereas women make significant
contributions in deciding on the bean varieties to grow, quantities to sell and/or keep for
food, storage methods and bean prices. Both men and women participate in deciding the use
of proceeds from the sale of beans although women play a significant role (NaCRRI, 2012).
In Burundi, beans account for 4% of the total annual production of major food crops at
national level with an annual average production of 300MT. Women are primarily
responsible for making decisions and providing labor in the production of beans in the
country. For example, they consistently contribute relatively more to the production of bean
than to maize. Because women have relatively less access to finance, fertilizer use in bean
production in Burundi is very limited relative to other crops (USAID, 2010). Women handle
both bean production and postharvest handling (USAID, 2012).
Despite the significant role they play in agriculture, their status remains limited because
many are illiterate, lack technical skills and most of them work with inadequate production
inputs and tools. For instance, they cultivate the hillsides using 25cm long hoes, sometimes
18 | P a g e
even with babies on their backs. Because of these archaic methods, women have to work
harder and for longer hours and yet their production levels are relatively low.
Nevertheless, women decide on what variety of beans to cultivate at household level because
they are the ones who cook the beans for the family. Beans are cultivated mainly for
household consumption only. For some who may sometimes sell part of their harvest, the
women decide on the use of the money earned from the sale and in most cases the money is
always reinvested in the family (USAID, 2012).
Traditionally, beans were not considered as a source of income for many famers, but today
the crop is a highly marketable food commodity in Burundi including trading it informally
across the country’s borders. Bean traders, however, are confronted by a major marketing
problem, that is a lack of information regarding market price variations, potential suppliers
and buyers, new seeds, and agronomic issues (USAID, 2012). Among the producers, storage
was predominantly the responsibility of males compared to the nearly equitable gender share
of that role among the traders. The producers, in most cases (86%) owned their storage
structures while the traders (68%) relied on rented premises (Nile Basin Initiative, 2012)
For Tanzania women contribute an average of 80% of the required labor input in bean
production while men provide the remaining 20%. There is also gender division of labor in
performing different farm operations. For instance, women provide 39%, 6%, 16%, and
38%, respectively, of labor requirement for ploughing, land clearing, planting, and
harvesting of beans. Men on the other hand provide 15%, 30%, 28% and 14%, respectively,
of labor for ploughing, land clearing, planting and harvesting. A combination of men and
women provide labor requirement for ploughing, land clearing, planting and harvesting of
beans, at respective percentages of 46%, 64%, 56% and 48% (Nakhone, 1998).
For the case of Rwanda, bean is basically considered a women’s crop, with women taking
nearly exclusive responsibility for bean production. This is because women are responsible
for feeding the family and bean is mainly regarded as food crop. Women are responsible for
bean variety seed selection, weeding, sowing, harvesting and post-harvest handling
(Sperling and Berkowitz, 1994). Men only get involved in bean production if it is being
produced for sale and yet the proceeds from sale of the crop will not be invested in buying
19 | P a g e
seeds. It is common for men to use the income from the bean proceeds to drink alcohol and
thereby negatively impacting on the women’s efforts to increase and sustain production of
the crop (Sperling and Berkowitz, 1994).
Katungi, et al (2010) indicates that over 80% of the households undertake selection of bean
variety to plant, field cleaning, land preparation, seed sowing, weeding, harvesting,
threshing, transportation and storage, whereas over 50% of the households execute the
functions of seed treatment, transportation and application of manure. The same authors
noted that men and women in Eastern Kenya work jointly to produce common beans
although women are more heavily involved in the production side of the chain than men.
Women take the lead in crop selection, variety selection, seed sowing, storage and seed
selection, while they work with men to clean the fields, apply organic manure, hand weed,
harvest, transport and thresh the crop. Apart from joint production, there is no common
bean production activity that is largely dominated by men. Children also play a minor role
in the common bean production in Eastern Kenya. Little or no processing is required for
beans. Therefore, consumers may not care whether they buy from one trader or another
since there is limited specialization according to the kind of customers served (Katungi et
al. 2010). Production and trade of beans
The reason for the production of beans varied across the EAC countries. In Tanzania, it is
produced as a food crop and hence considered a woman’s crop, with all the production
activities (ploughing, planting, weeding and harvesting) executed by adult females, youth
females and the girls. Rwanda produces bean both as cash and food crop with both males
and females participating more or less equally in the production activities. Adult females
and males each take care of 50% of land preparation, planting, weeding, harvesting, drying
and threshing, while winnowing is 100% executed by adult females.
Bean crop is mainly intercropped with maize in Kenya and is mostly grown as a food crop.
With the exception of land clearing, where females (adult and youth) provide only
10percent of its labour requirements, females contribute more than 60% of labour for the
other production activities of beans i.e. 70% planting, 100% weeding, 80% harvesting,
100% drying, 80% threshing, 100% winnowing, 90% grading and 90% bagging are
executed by both adult and youth females. Adult and youth males provide 30% of labour
requirement for bean planting, 20% harvesting, 20% threshing, 10% grading and 10%
bagging.
20 | P a g e
3.2.2.1 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
In the case of Uganda, bean is produced both as food and cash crop, although it is geared
more towards food than cash. Its production activities are mainly executed by females with
limited participation of the males as shown in Table 7
Table 5: Activities executed in bean production by gender in Uganda
Activity Gender category
executing activity
Reason for specific gender executing
activity
Bush clearing Male Adult 60%
Female Adult 40%
This is considered the man’s activity
Women engage in this when there are
no men or when the parcel is big
First and Second
ploughing
Female Adult 60%
Female Youth 40%
Men are engaged elsewhere besides
spending some time in leisure
activities.
Sourcing for manure Female Adult 60%
Female Youth 40%
Men are engaged elsewhere besides
spending some time in leisure
activities.
Seed Selection Female Adult 60%
Female Youth 40%
It’s considered a woman’s role.
Planting Female Adult 60%
Female Youth 30%
Girls 10%
It’s considered a role of the woman
and girl children.
Weeding Female Adult 60%
Female Youth 40%
It’s considered a woman’s role.
Staking the climbing
beans
Female Adult 40%
Female Youth 30%
Male Adults 30%
It’s considered a woman’s role. Men
only offer help especially when the
garden is reasonably big
Pest and Disease
Control
Female Adult 70%
Male Adult 30%
It’s considered a woman’s role. Men
only offer help especially when the
garden is reasonably big
Harvesting, Threshing
& winnowing
Female Adult 70%
Female Youth 30%
This is traditionally considered a
woman’s role.
Storage Female Adult 100% The woman knows how to store and
how much to use from the store.
Similar to maize, the resources used in the production of beans are controlled by adult males
but accessed by all gender categories depending on the respective activities for which they
will be used. For example, forked hoe is controlled by adult male and yet it is used by
women for weeding. This means adult males are the owners but women are the users.
Before using, women have to seek for permission from the owners. At the same time,
21 | P a g e
women should report any anomalies that occur to these resources in the process of using
them to the owners. The main challenge in the use of these production resources is the
conflict of interest by the different gender. A man may want family labour to be first
committed to his crop/activity before anything else and yet that may not be the interest of
the woman.
The way bean is traded varied across the EAC countries. In Rwanda, the cooperatives sold
beans as dry grains where the cooperative leaders comprising of both males and females
made decisions regarding the marketing and use of the proceeds. The non – cooperative
groups focused on beans as a food crop where it was traded by women in small quantities
both in the fresh form and dry grains to meet day to day household needs.
For the case of Tanzania, beans are marketed both in fresh form and as dry grains where
adult females are responsible for cleaning, sorting and grading while adult males do the
actual sale. Adult females only sell in very small quantities to meet day to day expenses of
the households. Since beans is mainly considered as a woman’s crop, men control the
proceeds from its sales as the heads of the family but the decisions about the proceeds use
is taken by the adult females, although they have to consult the men.
Bean in Kenya is mainly a food crop and the little portion that is traded is mainly marketed
as dry grains. Adult females trade 90% of the beans in small volumes at retailing level while
the 10% that is marketed by men is effected in large quantities. Although men sometimes
get involved in price negotiation for what is sold by the women, men solely
determine/negotiate the price of beans that they sell. Men decide up to 60% on the use of
the proceeds from the sale of beans while women decide on 40% of bean proceeds.
In Uganda, bean is traded both as dry grain and in fresh form. Both the fresh form and dry
grain are sold by women when in small scale to generate income for buying items required
for day to day running of the household. If the bean is produced in large scale, whether
being sold in fresh form or dry grain, it becomes a man’s responsibility. Execution of trade
activities for beans in Uganda is as shown in Table 8.
22 | P a g e
Table 6: Activities executed in bean trade by gender in Uganda
Form of
crop
traded
Activity Gender
performing
activity
Reason specific gender executing
activity
Fresh
beans
Uprooting mature
beans with sizable
pods
Female adult
(60%)
Youth female
(40%)
Female adults have expertise in
picking mature fresh beans.
Removing pods from
haulms
Female adults
(50%)
Youth female
(30%)
Boys (10%)
Girls (10%)
Collective responsibility of women
and children to generate money for
home use.
Packing the fresh
beans (pods) in bags
Female adult
(50%)
Youth female
(20%)
Youth male (30%)
Since there is quick money, these
categories are involved.
Transportation of
fresh beans
Female adult
(50%)
Youth male (50%)
They are considered as owners of
the business.
Vending fresh beans
to customers in
homes and trading
centres
Youth male (50%)
Female adult
(50%)
Owners of the business
To sale quickly for money.
Sale of fresh beans on
stalls in market
places
Female adult
(50%)
Youth male (50%)
Have experienced of marketing.
Benefit from funds obtained from
the sale.
Dry beans Uprooting dry bean
plants in the field.
Female adult
(60%)
Boys (20%)
Girls (20%)
Female adults have expertise
Boys and Girls follow their
mothers’ instructions.
Threshing Female adult
(60%)
Boys (20%)
Girls (20%)
Female adults have expertise.
Boys and Girls follow their
mothers’ instructions.
Sorting beans Female adult
(60%)
Boys (20%)
Girls (20%)
Female adults have expertise.
Boys and Girls follow their
mothers’ instructions.
Grading Female adult
(100%)
- Have experience in work.
Packaging Female adult
(40%)
Male adult (60%)
It’s a man’s role assisted by a
woman
23 | P a g e
Form of
crop
traded
Activity Gender
performing
activity
Reason specific gender executing
activity
Transportation to
stores
Boys (40%)
Male adult (60%)
Requires physical strength.
Actual sale Male adult (100%) Considered a man’s responsibility
The proceeds from trade of fresh bean is controlled by the men whereas the women takes
decision in the use of the proceeds in consultation with the men. The men are in control of
proceeds from the dry bean grains and they make decisions on the use of 70% of the
proceeds. The main challenge faced due to the control and use of proceeds from the beans
is mistrust between family members that can result in to domestic violence.
3.2.3 Gender roles in Maize Production
Like in the case of rice and beans, gender roles in maize production vary across the EAC
countries depending on the value of the crop. In Uganda, maize is grown mainly as a
monocrop although it is sometimes intercropped with beans, groundnuts and soybean
(Mugisa-Mutetikka et al., 1998). It is usually grown twice in a year with major farm
activities being land preparation, planting, weeding, harvesting, de-husking, threshing,
winnowing, storage, processing and marketing (Nakhone, 1998). Land preparation for maize
production is mainly performed by men although women participate on a small scale. This
activity is commonly executed using ox-plough and hand-hoeing with the latter dominating
the small scale farms while oxen-plough and tractors are mostly used on farms that are of 2
ha and more(ibid).
Weeding is conducted twice or thrice depending on the variety of maize grown. Weeding is
carried out by women with minimal participation of men although the latter take lead in in
case of spraying with herbicides. But generally, weeds are controlled manually using hand
hoes as herbicides are rarely used. According to Mugisa-Mutetikka et al. (1998) this arises
because farmers are either not aware of the existence of herbicides or the chemicals are too
expensive.
Soil fertility management activity is undertaken by both men and women although there is
limited utilization of inorganic fertilizer in maize production. Women are involved in storage
24 | P a g e
of maize while its sale is mainly carried out by men who are also the major decision makers
on the use of its proceeds (Nakhone, 1998). According to Bethelhem and Stein (2008), male-
headed households have a better market access due to the use of bicycle for transporting
their product. However, the productivity of female-headed households is noted to lower with
the distance to the market. This could be due to the limited mobility of women as a result of
the cultural restrictions on women’s use of bicycle.
According to MINAGRIE (2012), in Burundi, women dominate the activities of land
preparation, planting and harvesting accounting for 62% of the work hours for maize
production. Land preparation is the most strenuous, time-consuming and labor demanding
activity, requiring nearly 12 days on average for hoeing a hectare by one person. Planting a
hectare by one person on the other hand requires about 7 days, and weeding almost 7 days
of labor during a season that can range from 60 to close to 200 days depending on the crop.
In addition, women face the added transaction costs of walking from parcel to parcel because
land parcels are rarely contiguous and can be far apart. Overall women have less decision-
making power than men although they often participate in joint decision making (USAID,
2013).
The most striking observation in Tanzania is the amount of labor that women contribute in
all stages of agricultural production of main food-cash crops especially maize. At Handali
village, 78% of women are involved in all stages of agricultural production compared to an
average 29% of men. But particularly to harvesting, all women participate without
exception.
Other activities where women contribute almost all the labor requirements are seeding,
harvesting, storage, farm clearing, seed preparation, weeding, transporting and milling
(Nakhone, 1998). However, in Illeje district, Mbeya region, men contribute an average of
45% of required labor in maize cultivation while women about 55%. Men are involved in
field selection, land preparation and deciding on what to plant. Planting is a back-breaking
activity and is often undertaken by men, women and children, while weeding is
predominantly a female's activity. Women dominate in harvesting and storage while men
dominate storage, transportation and marketing (Rugimbana et al., 1998).
25 | P a g e
In Kenya, both males and females participate more or less equally in the production of maize
(Zea mays) because the crop is the most important staple food of the country. It is probably
the most important agricultural commodity particularly as a source of income and
subsistence for the rural population. Therefore, the country's food security and the welfare
of its farming population are largely dependent on changes in the production capacity of
maize farmers. The maize fields are centers of economic activities in most rural areas where
women contribute a significant share of the required labor (Rees et al, 1997).
Field selection is mostly the responsibility of men who decide on where the crop is planted,
especially when it is being planted as a cash crop. Women make the decision only in female
headed households (Nakhone, 1998). Land preparation involves the use of tractor, hand
hoeing and oxen depending on their availability, farm size, and socioeconomic status of the
household. Irrespective of the sex of the farmer, land preparation is largely a man's job or
jointly conducted by men, women and children (Nakhone, 1998). Tractor operation, ox-
ploughing and harrowing is predominantly by men. Hand hoeing is carried out by men,
women and older children except for difficult tasks such as hand hoeing virgin land full of
couch grass where male adults are required (Kamau et al, 1998). Planting, is commonly
handled by men, women and children irrespective of who heads the family. Opening furrows
using oxen is undertaken solely by men who occasionally are helped by older male children.
Dropping of seeds, fertilizer application, and covering of seeds is mostly conducted by
women and children. Planting of beans between maize rows is mainly undertaken by women
particularly in the Kikuyu community. However, men, women, and children can plant beans.
Intercropping maize and beans was reported to being practiced mainly by families headed
by females (Nakhone, 1998). Weeding is undertaken by hand-hoeing or slashing using
family, communal or hired labor. Weeding is not gender specific: men, women and children
weed when required. However, women’s participation in weeding is higher in female headed
households than in male headed households (Hassan and Salasya, 1994). Although the use
of herbicides is hardly practiced by small-scale farmers, its application is carried out by men.
In high potential areas, where stalk borers are a problem, insecticides such as Dipterex
granules, pyrethrum mare are applied by hand by both men and women. However, where a
sprayer is used to control other pests, spraying is undertaken by men (Kamau et al., 1998).
Soil fertility management is practiced by both men and women and it includes use of
26 | P a g e
inorganic fertilizers, farmyard manure, legume green manure, forage legumes, forage tree
legumes, legume inoculants and compost manure (Nakhone, 1998).
Maize is harvested by men, women and children. Men cut and stock maize while women
and children de-husk it. Storage of maize is by both men and women when the harvest is for
commercial purposes while the responsibility is handled by women when the crop is for
home use. Use of insecticides against weevils is common where grains are stored for a long
period. Application of insecticide in this case is not gender specific (Kamau et al, 1998)
while processing is mainly a woman's job whether in male or female headed households.
Marketing of maize is mostly a man's responsibility except in female headed households and
women managed farms where the latter generally need the approval of the husband. Women
are generally involved in selling small amounts of maize in local markets to generate cash
for home use. More men sell produce of female farmers than women in male headed
households (Nakhone, 1998).
3.2.3.1 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The aim of producing maize varied across countries. In Uganda, maize was grown within
the Kabale-Southern Montane AEZ as a food crop while in Tororo under Kyoga Plain it is
both a food and cash crop. Therefore, maize is considered a woman’s crop in Kabale whereas
it is both a male and female crop in Tororo. In Tanzania, Kenya and Rwanda, maize is both
a food and cash crop. The gender roles in the respective activities of maize production within
the countries are as shown in Table 6.
Table 7: Gender executing activities in maize production by country
Activity Tororo –
Uganda
Kabale - Uganda Tanzania Rwanda Kenya
Bush clearing -------------
-----------
Adult male
(60%), adult
female (40%)
------------- ------------- Adult male (80%), adult
female (15%), male youth
(5%)
1st & 2nd
ploughing/land
preparation
Adult and
youth
males
Adult female
(60%), female
youth (40%)
Adult male
(75%), adult
female
(25%) –
mainly done
Male
(50%) and
female
(50%)
adults
First ploughing: Adult
male (70%), male youth
(20%), adult female (5%),
female youth (5%)
27 | P a g e
Activity Tororo –
Uganda
Kabale - Uganda Tanzania Rwanda Kenya
using ox-
plough
Second ploughing: Adult
female (60%), female
youth (40%)
Sourcing for
manure and
application
-------------
-----
Adult female
(60%), female
youth (40%)
------------ Adult male
(30%),
female
adult (70%)
____________
Seed selection -------------
--------
Adult female
(60%), female
youth (40%)
---------------
--
--------------
-----
Adult female (70%), adult
male (30%)
Planting Adult and
youth
females
Boys and
girls
Adult female
(60%), female
youth (30%), girls
(10%)
Male (40%)
and female
(60%) adults
Male
(50%) and
female
(50%)
adults
Digging the planting holes
– adult and youth males
(100%), dropping and
covering seeds – 100%
adult and youth females
Weeding Male and
female
adults
Adult female
(60%), female
youth (40%)
Male (30%)
and female
(70%) adults
Male
(25%) and
female
(75%)
adults
If maize intercropped with
beans, 10% weeding done
by adult and youth males
and 90% by adult and
youth females
If maize is monocrop,
50% adult and youth
females, 50% adult and
youth males
Pest & disease
management/spr
aying
Male
adults
Adult female
(70%), adult male
(30%)
---------------
-
--------------
--
Adult males (60%), youth
male (30%), adult females
(10%)
Top dressing
(form of
fertilizer
application)
-------------
-------------
--------------------- ---------------
-----
--------------
----
80% youth males
20% adult and youth
females
Harvesting Male and
female
adults
Male and
female
youth
Boys and
girls
Adult female
(60%), female
youth (20%)
Girls (10%), boys
(10%)
Male (40%)
and female
(60%) adults
Male adult
(20%),
female
adults
(40%),
youth male
(15%),
youth
female
(15%), girls
(5%), boys
(5%)
Cutting – 60% adult males,
40% youth males
Dehusking – 80% youth
males, 10% adult males,
10% adult females
28 | P a g e
Activity Tororo –
Uganda
Kabale - Uganda Tanzania Rwanda Kenya
Transporting
from field to
home/store
Adult and
youth
males
using
bicycles
Adult male
(30%), adult
females (30%),
male youth
(25%), female
youth (15%)
Adult male
(40%),
youth male
(40%), adult
and youth
female
(20%)
Male adult
(30%),
female
adults
(30%),
youth male
(20%),
youth
female
(20%),
Adult and youth male
(90%), adult and youth
female (10%)
Post-harvest
handling
Male and
female
adults
Male and
female
youth
Boys and
girls
Adult female
(60%), female
youth (20%)
Girls (10%), boys
(10%)
----------- Drying –
50% adult
male &
50% adult
female
Threshing
- 50% adult
male &
50% adult
female
Winnowin
g – 100%
adult
women
Drying – 80% adult and
youth males because of the
big volume, 20% adult
females
Shaling – 80% adult and
youth males using portable
hand shalers, 20% adult
and youth females
Storage and
packaging
Female
adults
Adult female
(70%), female
youth (30%)
---------- 50% adult
male, 50%
adult
female
Grading – 70% males
because of the big volume,
30% females
Bagging – Youth male
(65%), adult male (20%),
adult female (10%), youth
female (5%)
29 | P a g e
------ means the specific AEZ/country did not provide data on the activity
Maize production resources are controlled by adult males whereas they are accessed by all
gender categories depending on the respective activities for which they will be used. For
example, land and production tools are controlled by adult males but mainly used by women.
Maize trading depended on whether it was grown as a cash or food crop. In Rwanda, the
cooperatives sold maize as dry grains where the cooperative leaders comprising both males
and females made decisions regarding the marketing and use of the proceeds. The non –
cooperative groups traded both fresh maize cobs and dry grains for small and large scale
sales respectively with both adult males and females handling 50% of marketing related
activities in each case.
Maize in Tanzania is marketed as dry grains by adult males (because they are the heads of
the family). Adult males are responsible for 60%, 100%, 80%, 95% and 95% respectively
of packaging, insecticide application in storage, storage, transporting to the market and the
actual sale of the grain. Adult females only sell 5% (small quantities) to meet the family’s
daily expenses/needs. Once the maize is sold, the proceeds from its sales is controlled by the
adult males and even the decisions about the proceeds use is taken by the adult males.
In Uganda, maize is traded both as dry grain and fresh cobs both by adult males and females.
The fresh form which is common in Kabale is mainly sold for the purpose of meeting
household needs with females and boys mainly executing the following trade related
activities: Harvesting fresh cobs – 50% adult females, 30% youth females, boys 10% and
girls 10%; packaging/bagging – female adult 50%, youth female 20% and youth male 30%;
transporting fresh maize to market – female adult 50% and youth male 50%; vending fresh
maize in homes/trading centre – female adult 50% and youth male 50%; selling fresh maize
on stalls in the markets – 50% female adult and 50% youth male. Activities related to the
trading of dry grain form of maize are mainly executed by adult males with little involvement
of adult females, youth and boys as listed: identifying the market – adult male 50% and adult
female 50%; identifying the exact buyer and establishing price – adult male 100%; bagging
and weighing – male adult 50%, youth male 30%, boys 20%; transporting to the market –
male adult 60%, youth male 40%. The proceed from the trade of maize irrespective of the
30 | P a g e
form is controlled by the adult male who is the head of the family. However, the decision
over the use of proceeds varied with adult males and females making 70% and 30% decisions
respectively on the use of proceeds from dry grain sale while adult females made decisions
over use of proceeds from fresh maize.
Marketing of maize in Kenya on the other hand was dominated by the men and was sold
mainly as dry grain. Men sold 70% of the maize in large volumes while the women traded
only 30% in small quantities at retail price. However, price negotiation for maize, whether
being sold in large or small quantities, was undertaken by the men and women only execute
the actual selling of the produce. Regarding the use of proceeds from maize, men decided
on the use of 60% of the proceeds from maize while women made decisions on the remaining
40% in consultations with the male counterparts.
4. CHALLENGES FACED IN AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION
Women are the main key players in agricultural production and most of the challenges that
they face are related to ownership and access to productive resources like land, finances and
improved technologies. In Uganda for instance, the land tenure, pattern of access, use and
ownership of land by men and women is based on the British colonial land policy that left
at least four land tenure systems in the country (Bethelhem and Stein (2008). These tenure
systems include (a) freehold where one has full rights and registered ownership (b) leasehold
where land is leased for a specific period under certain terms, (c) Mailo which involves
holding registered land in perpetuity; and (d) customary where land is under customary rules
and administered by clan/family leaders (Tripp, 2004). In all these tenure systems, women
are excluded from owning land and only retained secondary rights through their male
counterparts as wives, daughters, or sisters. This phenomenon continues to characterize
women’s land rights even up to today in many parts of the country. Only a small fraction of
women have managed to own land in their own right, estimated nationally at 16%. Some of
these rights have been gained through purchase and very rarely through inheritance from
parents or husbands. Yet, according to Mackenzie (1995), farmers’ ability to sustain the soils
and their farms is compromised by lack of access to resources, which negatively affect the
ecosystem and productivity. Other empirical studies (Gebremedhin and Swinton, 2003) also
point to security of tenure as a critical factor in determining incentives to conserve land
31 | P a g e
quality, while the Uganda Gender Policy-2007 also stresses that gender imbalance in
agriculture and lower incentives for women affects investment in agricultural production for
the market.
Similarly, in Burundi, women have limited access to factors of production such as credit and
land. Pedro (2011) noted that Burundian women have no rights to owning land and livestock
under the customary law even though they play a key agricultural responsibility. This makes
woman farmers the weakest link in the production chain. More so, women have negligible
participation in sectors with growth potential like trade, banking, and industry. These limited
access and negligible participation exacerbate women’s income poverty. According to the
2008 national population census, 80.2% of Burundians own land, of which 62.5% are men
and only 17.7% are women. Besides, women have limited access to appropriate production
and conservation technologies and control very little of the agricultural income that they
generate, even though they are quite active in the agriculture sector (International Monetary
Fund, 2012).
In the case of Tanzania, the lack of land access and customary laws constrain women‘s land
rights, making it difficult to empower women as farmers. Although the statutory framework
prohibits discrimination, customary laws are deeply ingrained, and women often do not
know their rights to land nor their ability to protect these rights through village councils and
the judicial process. The agriculture sector is worked mainly by poor women (86%) with
lowest levels of schooling and highest rates of illiteracy (23.3%). As a result women remain
in the subsistence agriculture, receive low profit margins if any for their products due to lack
of market intelligence, they have a limited ability to participate in agri-business and remain
employes in low paid positions in secondary agriculture.
Around 30% of Rwandese households are female-headed and most of them are very poor
(widows and child-headed households). The increasing number of female headed
households (FHH) in the rural areas makes agriculture vulnerable to any type of shock events
because women rarely have asset stocks or financial savings due:
a) to low literacy levels
32 | P a g e
b) , subordinate role in relation to their male counterparts at household, community and
governance structure levels.
Moreover, the contribution of women in meeting family food, health and education needs
through use of income obtained from the production and sale of vegetables from home
gardens or forest products, as well as provision of labor for agricultural value chain and
community work, is seldom recognized at household or in national statistics. Much as access
to agricultural inputs like improved seeds and chemical fertilizers was introduced and
promoted under the Crop Intensification Program (CIP) to increase productivity and
compensate the small land sizes, both women and men farmers confirmed that improved
seed varieties and chemical fertilizers are very expensive. The most affected are the women
headed households (WHH), child headed households (CHH) and very poor families headed
by men.
Furthermore, women and youth have very limited access to training opportunities compared
to men. Women farmers reported that male members of the household attend trainings more
than women because information on such opportunities comes through the men, who in
many cases keep the information for their benefit. In cases where the men pass on
information about training opportunities to the women, women farmers noted that they offer
to remain home to carry out reproductive activities. Besides, women and youths lack the
financial resourcesand entrepreneurial skills thus limiting their participation in high value
crop production and marketing.
Small land sizes also result into reduced crop diversity, for example, in Ruhango, women
farmers were concerned by the replacement of beans with maize under the CIP,
compromising food security in the process. In Male Headed Household (MHH) especially
those involved in labor intensive technologies under CIP, there is increased workload for
women, girls and children. Women perform over three hours more than men on farming
activities. This is because CIP involves use of improved seed, fertilizers based on
recommended procedures of application and /or agronomic practices that make it more labor
intensive especially for women who are the main labor providers in crop production. In
addition, women spend five hours on unpaid reproductive and household work. As a result,
the women work for longer hours than men (REMA, 2010).
33 | P a g e
Still in Rwanda, land is controlled by men (90%). For this matter, men’s crops that are
mainly cash crops are allocated more land. Women have to struggle to meet family’s food
and income needs from the little food crops that they harvest. The Government of Rwanda
recognizes the challenges of land ownership and has introduced a system of land registration,
being facilitated by the National Land Bureau. The land has to be registered in the name of
both husband and wife, with children as legal beneficiaries. It is being undertaken to ensure
that all household members enjoy equal rights to land use.
Apart from land access, women have limited access to agricultural support services, such as
credit and agricultural technology. This is partly because women farmers lack collateral and
many have farms characterized by small plots and it is rare that banks give credit for small-
scale farming, as it is considered a highly risky investment. Other factors include lack of
information about credit availability, and lack of small-scale services such as micro-credit
schemes (REMA, 2010).
In Kenya, there is low adoption of agricultural technologies especially by women. Women
hardly attend seminars or training workshops and yet they are the central players in
agricultural production. Furthermore, very few women own land. Therefore, women do not
own land titles making it impossible for them to access credit. For sustainable agricultural
production, the land tenure system needs to be addressed to provide for ownership and to
allow women access to land (Ministry of Agriculture, 2008).
The findings from the primary data collected corroborate the challenges above and include
cultural beliefs as another constratining factor. in Uganda and Tanzania, the respondents
sited some cultural beliefs that promote gender discrimination within the
households/communities. Such beliefs include: all household assets and resources are
owned/controlled by the household head who is usually the male adult. Except in the cases
of unmarried women running their own families or widows, women and children must ask
for permission from the head of the family before using land or any household resources.
For instance the decision to rent land is the responsibility of the household head. Besides,
all harvests of the household belong to the household head and who has the right to make
decisions over the use/disposition of the harvest Relatedly, married women neither own nor
34 | P a g e
sell livestock. These beliefs enhance the control and decision making power of the adult
males who are usually the household heads.
5. GENDER ROLES IN ECOSYTEM MANAGEMENT
Ecosystem management is a process that aims to conserve major ecological services and
restore natural resources while meeting the socioeconomic, political and cultural and needs
of current and future generations. This section explores different ecosystems in Uganda
and Kenya and gender roles/ activities played in conserving, restoring or the economic
activities they are involved. The analysis presented was done with data collected from
farming groups in the different countries.
5.1 Roles, responsibilities and access within the ecosystem in Uganda
In Uganda, the ecosystems accessed are wetlands, land and planted forests where crop
production, animal rearing, bee keeping, fishing and fish farming are executed in the
wetlands. Activities performed within the planted forests are crop production, firewood
gathering and bee keeping, while those within land ecosystem are crop production, animal
rearing and tree planting. Crop production is mainly executed by females (adult and youth)
because they are responsible for providing food for the families. Men get involved in the
production of crops that generate income. Adult females execute 70% of animal rearing
while adult males only perform 30% of this activity when there are a few numbers of animals
(a range of 1 to 10 animals) within the household.
However, in a situation where the household owns a big number of animals (more than 10),
then it is entirely (100%) the responsibility of the adult male because the household is able
to generate an income from the animals as household’s financial obligations is a man’s duty.
Tree planting is entirely (100%) responsibility of the adult males because it is an income
generating activity. More so, trees occupy the land for a long period of time where the actual
owners of land who are men are the ones who can invest in such activities. Bee keeping,
fishing and fish farming are activities executed by men because they are income generating
activities and at the same time require skills that usually only men have these skills because
they are the ones who participate in training programs. Firewood gathering is undertaken by
females for cooking because it is traditionally considered a woman’s job, while males gather
firewood only for brick making and charcoal burning.
35 | P a g e
A closer analysis of gender roles within the Eastern part of Uganda –(***** AEZ) the
sample selected accessed wetlands and land for the purpose of farming and fishing. In line
with farming, the production of food crops like vegetables was mainly undertaken by adult
females and youth females while that of cash crops such as rice was mainly by adult males
and youth males with support from women.
Women focus on the production of food crops because it is their responsibility to ensure that
the family/household has food while men focus more on income generating activities
because they have to provide for the financial obligations of the family/household. The
groups from the western part of Uganda accessed land, lake, wetland, bush land, planted
forests and river/stream as shown in Table 4. Activities executed within these ecosystems
were carried out by the different gender categories in varying degrees depending on cultural
beliefs and perceptions.
Table 8: Activities executed within the ecosystems in Western Uganda by gender
Ecosystems Activities
within the
ecosystem
Gender category
performing
activity
Reason for specific gender executing
activity
Land Crop
production
Female adult (80%)
Male adult (20%)
It’s the responsibility of women to feed
the household
Livestock
rearing
Male adult 40%)
Boys (60%)
Male adults are owners of livestock, but
boys do the rearing of livestock because
culturally they are supposed to take over
duties of their fathers.
Brick making Male adult (40%)
Male youth (60%)
The activity requires a lot of energy, and
male youths are considered most energetic
followed by adult males.
It’s an income generating activity
Sand
excavation
Male youth Requires a lot of energy
A quick income generating activity
Lime
excavation
Adult female Beautification of walls of houses is the
duty of females
Quarrying Male youth (50%)
Male adult (30%)
Female adult (20%)
It’s laborious and requires a lot of energy.
The few females who are involved in the
activity are extremely hard up financially.
House
construction
Male adult (60%)
Youth males (40%)
Construction of houses and other
structures is culturally an activity of
males.
36 | P a g e
Ecosystems Activities
within the
ecosystem
Gender category
performing
activity
Reason for specific gender executing
activity
Lake Water
transport
Male adult (40%)
Youth males (60%)
Unlike agricultural production that is less
attractive to male youth, boat ridding is a
quick source of income
Fishing Male adult (40%)
Male youth (60%)
A quick source of income to the male
youth.
Culturally, males have time to do off farm
activities
Fetching
water
Female adult
(20%), female
youth (20%), boys
(30%), girls (30%)
Culturally, a responsibility of females and
boys
Tourism Male adult (20%)
Youth males (30%)
Youth female
(30%)
Youth prefer off farm employment and are
also more flexible in moving up and
down. As such, they are more likely to be
employed in tourism as guides and waiters
than other categories of gender
Wetland Fishing Male adult (40%)
Male youth (60%)
A quick source of income to the male
youth.
Culturally, males have time to do off farm
activities
Cutting
papyrus and
grass
Female adult (60%)
Female youth
(40%)
Culturally, it’s a woman’s job
Fetching
water
Female adult
(20%), female
youth (20%), boys
(30%), girls (30%)
Culturally, a responsibility of females and
boys
Bee keeping
(apiary)
Male adult (100%) Male adults are less fearful to bee stinging
and have time. Culturally it’s a man’s job.
Crop
production
Female adult (80%)
Male adult (20%)
It’s the responsibility of females to feed the
household
Bush land Collecting
firewood
Female adult
(60%)
Female youth
(30%)
Girls (10%)
It’s the responsibility of females
Bee keeping
(apiary)
Male adult (100%) Male adults are less fearful to bee stinging
and have time. Culturally it’s a man’s job.
Cutting poles Male adult (40%)
Male youth (60%)
Culturally it’s a man’s job.
Planted
forest
Collecting
firewood
Female adult (60%)
Female youth
(30%)
Girls (10%)
It’s the responsibility of females
37 | P a g e
Ecosystems Activities
within the
ecosystem
Gender category
performing
activity
Reason for specific gender executing
activity
Charcoal
burning
Youth males (60%)
Male adult (40%)
Males have strength and skills for the
work.
Youth males get quick money from selling
charcoal
Cutting poles Male adult (40%)
Male youth (60%)
Culturally it’s a man’s job
Fruit
gathering
Boys (40%)
Youth males (60%)
Boys and youth males are more
adventurous. They explore for new
sources of food.
River/stream Brick making Male adult (40%)
Male youth (60%)
The activity requires a lot of energy.
It’s an income generating activity
Fetching
water
Female adult
(20%), female
youth (20%), boys
(30%), girls (30%)
Culturally, a responsibility of females and
boys
5.2 Roles, responsibilities and access within the ecosystem in Kenya
In Kenya, the groups accessed wetlands mainly for rice production, land for crop and
livestock production and, rivers/lakes for fishing. Rice production was undertaken by 60%
adult males, 30% adult females and 10% youth while fishing by 60% adult males, 20% youth
males and 20% adult females. However, maize production was more or less equally executed
by both males and females while bean crop was produced mainly by females. Tanzanian
farmers(???? In the whole country) on the other hand, accessed rivers, wetlands, land, natural
forests, planted forests, water channels and valley areas. Where both adult males and adult
females participate, with females more geared towards the production of food crops while
men are in to the production of cash crops.
The details of activities undertaken per ecosystem service accessed and corresponding
gender roles played are as shown in Table 5.
38 | P a g e
Table 9: Activities executed within the ecosystems in Tanzania????(whole country or
specific AEZ) by gender
Ecosystem Activities
within the
ecosystem
Gender
category
executing
activity
Reason for gender executing the
activity
River House
construction
sand
100% adult male Traditionally considered a man’s
responsibility
Water for
irrigating crops
40% adult male,
60% adult female
Division of labour based on who is
in charge of the crop
Water for
livestock
60% adult male,
40% youth male
Livestock owned by men
Water for
construction
50% adult male,
50% adult female
Division of labour, but women
carry on the head while men use
bicycles
Wetland Crop production 40% male, 60%
female
Division of labour based on who is
in charge of the crop (women
responsible for food crops)
Livestock
grazing/watering
100% male Men own livestock and have the
responsibility of taking care of it
Water for
construction
50% adult male,
50% adult female
Division of labour, but women
carry on the head while men use
bicycles
Brick making 40% adult male,
60% youth male
It’s considered labour intensive,
hence a man’s job. Also, a source
of income
Land Crop production 40% male, 60%
female
Division of labour based on who is
in charge of the crop (women
responsible for food crops)
Residential
construction
99% male Traditionally, it’s a man’s job
Livestock
production
99% male Men own livestock and have the
responsibility of taking care of it
Petty business 50% male, 50%
female
It is an income generating activity
for the household that both males
and females get involved in
Water for
domestic use
98% females
2% males
Carry on head; men will feel
inferior. Where bicycle is used
men collect water
Natural
forest
Bee keeping Adult and youth
male
Firewood
collection
99% females
1% males
Used for domestic cooking,
responsibility of women. Men only
participate when using bicycles
39 | P a g e
Ecosystem Activities
within the
ecosystem
Gender
category
executing
activity
Reason for gender executing the
activity
Construction
poles
Adult males
(98%) Adult
females (2%)
Traditionally, construction is a
man’s responsibility
Livestock
grazing
99% males Men own livestock and have the
responsibility of taking care of it
Planted
forest
Thatch grass
collection
50% youth male,
45% adult male,
5% adult female
Men are brave enough to move in
busy areas
Livestock
grazing
99% male Men own livestock and have the
responsibility of taking care of it
Firewood
collection
100% female Traditionally, it’s a responsibility
of females
Water
channels
Irrigation water 40% adult male,
60% adult female
Division of labour
Livestock
watering
99% male Men own livestock and have the
responsibility of taking care of it
Tapping water 100% Adult and
youth female
Traditionally, it’s a responsibility
of females
Valley areas Off season
farming
60% female,
40% male
Division of labour
Animal grazing 99% male Men own livestock and have the
responsibility of taking care of it
Tapping water 100% Adult and
youth female
Traditionally, it’s a responsibility
of females
5.3 Roles, responsibilities and access within the ecosystem in Rwanda
T ecosystems accessed in Rwanda was marshland and hillside, both used mainly for crop
production where both adult females and adult males participate in executing the production
activities. In fodder and crop production, adult males and females each provided 50% of
labour requirement in executing the activities. Exceptions were in wheat production where
adult females provided up to 80% of labour because it’s referred to as a woman’s crop while
adult males provided 75% of requirements for potato because it is considered a cash crop.
5.4 Challenges faced in executing activities within the ecosystem by gender
During the discussions with key informants and focus a number of challenges faced in
executing activities within the ecosystem were identified. They varied across gender,
respective activities and countries. In Uganda, both women and men face common
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challenges in farming that include limited access to market for the produce, inadequate
improved planting materials and/ or seeds, pests and diseases, infestation by striga weed,
low productivity/low yields, low prices for produce/exploitation by middlemen, high cost of
transportation, theft, land shortage, use of rudimentary tools, declining soil fertility, soil
erosion and changing weather pattern. Women specifically said they faced challenges like
with inadequate access of agricultural training programs as well as extension services, high
labour demand especially during land preparation and weeding, inadequate access to
agricultural tools, and crop production being considered culturally as a woman’s role.
In line with fishing, the challenges faced were lack of fishing gears and boats, and lack of
appropriate fishing nets, whereas those in bee keeping were poor quality bee hives,
inadequate availability of flowering plants, pests and lack of equipment.
In the case of the Tanzanian farming groups, both males and females reported the challenges
of labor intensity for irrigation rudimentary tools’ use, declining soil fertility, declining/low
yield, drought, crop destruction by livestock, low produce prices and high input costs, floods,
weeds, strong wind and unreliable market. Women mentioned facing the challenge of high
labor demand and no standard measures for the produce
Rwanda’s challenges in crop farming included drought, declining soil fertility, insufficient
availability of manure, high cost of fertilizers, declining/low yield, theft, diseases and pests
as provided by both males and females.
The challenges faced in Kenya in relation to crop and livestock production included labor
intensity especially during land preparation and weeding, lack of credit facilities especially
for women and youth, lack of savings and or investments, pests and diseases. Based on the
key informants, the challenges faced in executing the respective activities within the
ecosystems varied across countries and the type of ecosystem in question. In Uganda,
challenges related to land as an ecosystem irrespective of the gender included
limited/shortage of land, land fragmentation and declining soil fertility, whereas women
specifically faced the challenge of excessive labour demand because they have to stretch
themselves in carrying out so many activities on behalf of the households. In regard to
wetland ecosystem, the main challenges are floods, poor quality pasture, inadequate fish
farming knowledge and lack of fishing equipment, while that related to planted forest are
low yield of crops due to shading by trees and shortage of fuel wood. Rwanda on the other
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hand faces the problems of soil erosion and lack of improved seeds in crop production on
the marshland and hillside ecosystems. In Tanzania the main challenges faced in using land
and wetland ecosystems for crop production are high labour demand on women, use of poor
and rudimentary implements, drought and land shortage due to human and animal population
pressure.
5.5 Control, Access and Decision making over resources within the ecosystems by
gender
The analysis conducted also assessed the extent to which different gender groups control,
access and make decisions over resources within the ecosystems. The findings revealed that
there are similarities across countries and ecosystems but variations in terms of the extent of
control across the gender categories involved. On the whole, the ecosystems (wetland, land,
planted forests, natural forests, water channels, valley areas) were controlled mainly by male
adults. For instance, in Tanzania, the control over resources within the ecosystem in the
Southern Highland Zone (SHZ) was 70% and 30% respectively between adult males and
females while that in the Lake Zone (LZ) was 90% and 10% respectively for males and
females. In Rwanda, control of resources is perceived to be equal across gender groups- 50%
by adult male and 50% by adult females due to the government program that is encouraging
husbands and wives to have co-ownership of resources/assets. However, the traditional norm
where the males dominate in controlling resources is still in existence because the
government program has just been initiated and it’s yet to reach out to many.
Access to resources within the ecosystems was by all gender categories across countries
depending on the resources being accessed and the use of the resource. For example, water
for domestic use was accessed by female even though the ecosystems (land, wetlands,
valleys) from which they were being accessed were mainly controlled by males. Access to
resources for brick making, poles, timber were mainly by adult males and youth males
because they were the main gender using those resources.
Decision making over the resources from within these ecosystems was carried out by both
men and women across countries depending on the resource in question; however, women
had to consult with the men before taking a decision.
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The main challenge in control, access and decision making over these resources/ecosystems
was community/family conflict because men and women have different values and interest.
For instance, the conflict over use of land could arise because women focus on growing food
crops while men on cash crops. Other challenges include over use of the resources/
ecosystem because there is no alternative sources e.g. excessive cutting of trees for use as
fuel wood, and limited land and labour for use in production.
5.6 Crop production and trade
According to the FGDs, in all the EAC countries under study, the extent of involvement of
the different gender categories of people within the household in crop production depended
on the value of the crop and the specific production activities being executed. For instance,
males were more involved in the production of cash crops whereas females are more or less
solely in charge of the production of food crops but also provide labor for specific activities
in the men’s cash crops. In regard to trade, females participate in trade related activities like
bagging/packing, sorting. However, the actual sale and receipt of money from the sale is
entirely the responsibility of the males. Women were allowed to sell in small quantities
mainly to meet the day to day family expenses like purchase of salt, tea leaves etc.
5.7 Food Security crops within the EAC
The major food crops as well as the average number of times eaten by the household
members varied across countries and AEZs. For instance, in Tanzania, the major food crops
for the Southern Highland Zone are maize and beans - eaten every day and it is the adult
females in control because they are responsible for the preparation of food for the whole
households; whereas that of the Lake Zone are: maize (eaten 9 times/week), cassava flour
blended with maize (9 times/week), sweet potato (6 times/week), sorghum (once a week)
and beans (everyday). All these food crops except cassava–maize blend are controlled by
men because they are responsible for providing for the family.
For the case of Uganda, the major food crops in the Kyoga plain zone (Tororo areas) are:
cassava (eaten 7 times/week), millet (4 times/week), sorghum (2 times/week), maize
(everyday), sweet potato (2 times/week), groundnuts (everyday) and beans (everyday) with
adult females having control over these food crops because they are responsible for feeding
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the family. On the other hand, the main food crops within the Southwest zone (Kabale
areas) are: sweet potato (eaten everyday), sorghum (5 times/week), beans (everyday),
Solanum potato (4 times/week), cabbage (3 times/week), egg plants (3 times/week), maize
(2 times/week) and banana (4 times/week) with adult females taking full control over these
crops because they are responsible for providing food for the households.
In Rwanda, there is little variation in the major food crops within the different zone but the
major variation is in the number of times the respective food crop is eaten in a week. Bean
crop is the major sauce that is eaten 7 times per week by the households in all the zones of
the country. The other major crops and the number of times they are eaten in a week within
the Huye zone are: Maize (7 times/week), sweet potato (7 times/week), Sorghum (5
times/week), cassava (3 times/week) and rice (3 times/week). In Maraba zone, the main
food crops are: Sweet potato (7 times/week), rice (4 times/week), maize (3 times/week),
sorghum (3 times/week) and banana (once a week). On the other hand, the major food crops
for Mujuba-Kitabi zone are sweet potato (7 times/week), Solanum potato (7 times/week),
maize (3 times/week), wheat (3 times/week) and green peas (once a week) while that of
Musanze zone are sweet potato (7 times/week), sorghum (7 times/week), maize (3
times/week) and vegetables (2 times/week). Rwamagana zone’s main food crops are maize
(7 times/week), banana (6 times/week), cassava (4 times/week) and rice (2 times/week)
whereas that of Rwasave zone are sweet potato (7 times/week), rice (4 times/week), maize
(3 times/week) and cassava (3 times/week).
Based on the food crop consumption and information from key informants, beans is mainly
a food crop in the EAC countries as observed by the eating pattern of 7 times a week in
almost every country while maize and rice are both food and cash crops.
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6. CONCLUSION
Information generated from the study confirms that males and females play specific roles
in ecosystems management, crop production and trade in the EAC region. Within the
respective ecosystem, women are more geared towards executing activities that directly
target the welfare of the household while men are focused on performing activities that
generate income as well as those that physically require a lot of energy like brick making.
In line with crop production, women and men perform specific tasks even though women
are more focused in the production of food crops while men are into income generating
crops. Women on the other hand still have to provide labour for production of the men’s
crops usually destined for income generation. Maize and rice are produced as both food and
cash crops while bean is mainly produced as a food crop. For these three crops, women
dominate in providing the labor requirement for their production and post-harvest handling
while marketing/trading is dominated by the men. Women therefore, experience excessive
workload due to farm work and household chores.
The ecosystems, and resources within them as well as the other resources used in crop
production are controlled by adult males even though all gender categories can have access
depending on the purpose for which the respective ecosystems and or resources will be
used. However, the other gender categories within the household have to seek permission
from the adult males before using the resources/ecosystems in question. The fact that adult
males have full control over ecosystems and resources within the households limits
women’s full exploitation potential of the key factors of production i.e. land, water, credit,
capital and appropriate technologies.
Although women play a key role in ecosystems management and crop production, the
decision making abilities over resources, produce, proceeds and the household as a whole
are in the hands of men, thus restricting women from exploiting their full potential in
agricultural production. The fact that women and men execute specific roles in ecosystems
management, crop production and trade are mainly influenced by the culture/traditions that
have always defined roles and responsibilities of men and women that have been passed
on. These traditions pass on the beliefs that assets and resources are owned by men, women
are responsible for feeding the household. Rwanda however, has had government influence
that has resulted to men and women having more or less equal participation.
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7. RECOMMENDATIONS
In order to achieve agricultural development, food security and wealth creation especially
for women and youth, there is a need to address the gender gaps by ensuring that all women
and men in agriculture have equal opportunities to access agriculture inputs and resources.
For instance, Rwanda has introduced a policy where a husband and wife has to register land
as co-owners with children as beneficiaries, and is already promoting and sensitizing
households on the benefits of this process. In this case, the man and woman have equal
rights over the land and both can take decisions on the use of the land for the benefit of the
household/family.
Since women are responsible for providing food for the family and also ensuring that there
is enough for a particular period of time, a sensitization program spearheaded by
government that encourages sharing of proceeds from agricultural produce between men
and women would enhance the productivity of women as they can be able to use part of the
proceeds to hire services that make them more efficient and productive within the
agricultural sector e.g. tractor/ox-plough, thresher and labor.
1) Through government and or NGO interventions, labor saving technologies for
production, post-harvest handling and processing that are handy for women like portable
planter, transplanter, weeder and thresher should be promoted among the smallholder
farmers and introduced in form of in-kind credit. The use of these technologies will greatly
contribute to improvement of agricultural production and household welfare by increasing
the production capacity of the household as well as freeing labor that can be used for other
household activities.
Government and financial institutions should undertake capacity building of smallholder
farmers on credit management that usually emphasize on savings. Financial institutions
should introduce credit among the farmer groups to support building their financial base as
well as credit worthiness. The groups can then be able to save periodically and at the same
time access credit for use/investment in agricultural production.
Government and development partners should carry out sensitization campaigns to
influence specific gender cultural beliefs and attitudes so that households could accept crop
46 | P a g e
production as a responsibility of both men and women for the mutual benefit of the family
irrespective of whether it is a cash or food crop. The campaigns should take in to
consideration the sensitivity to the traditional divisions of labor which may help
intervention initiatives to be more socially acceptable. More so, government should
introduce capacity building programs that target mind and attitude change within the
farming groups/communities subsequently, influence the participation of both men and
women in training and extension programs.
To address the challenge of lack of improved seed, government, NGOs and private sector
should link the farming groups to community seed producers and or seed companies so that
they can access improved seeds of the respective crops. These groups can access seeds and
pay cash or as credit depending on the level of linkage/collaboration built with the seed
providers.
There is a need for government and NGOs to build capacity of the smallholder farming
groups on Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM) as well as water harvesting
technologies in order to enhance/maintain soil fertility and also have water throughout the
year for either domestic use or irrigation.
Monitoring and evaluation of strategic interventions/programs within the smallholder
farmer groups should be conducted periodically/regularly by governments, NGOs and
leaders of Farmer Organizations so that lessons can be drawn and where necessary
adjustments/modifications are made to ensure that gender issues are appropriately
considered.
Disseminating the findings of the gender analysis: The study has provided valuable
information regarding the roles and responsibilities of the different gender categories in
crop production and trade as well as control of resources and decision making. It is
recommended that Kilimo Trust in collaboration with its stakeholders widely disseminate
the findings of the study as this will create awareness on gender roles and responsibilities
within the crop subsector, which can be used to build action points that will result to
equitable distribution of responsibilities among the different gender categories and hence
improvement of service delivery in the subsector.
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CASE STUDY 1: RWANDA
Closing the gender gaps through Crop Intensification Program in Rwanda: A case of
Bean Production, Post-Harvest Handling and Marketing
By Leonidas Dusengemungu, Senior Socio-economist Researcher and Gender focal person at RAB,
Rubona Centre, P.o.Box 138 Butare.
Figure 1. CIP implementation process 2007-2016
Abstract
This case study examines gender issues in Rwanda’s agricultural production. A special attention is given to the Crop Intensification
Program (CIP) with Land Use Consolidation (LUC) as its main pillar. CIP has been implemented in Rwanda since 2007. However,
there has been no reliable evaluation to assess how well the CIP activities have closed gender gaps while attaining the programme
objectives. This case study has the following specific objectives: to examine the gender issues in Rwanda; identify major
constraints to inclusion of all gender categories in agricultural production and establish the needs of closing the gender gaps. To
develop this case study, data was obtained from secondary sources, focus group discussions and key informant interviews that
were conducted in February 2016. Five big CIP sites were purposively sampled. The key findings show that use of new
technologies can attract more men and more women on farm to work together from land preparation to planting, weeding,
harvesting and marketing of agricultural products. This was not happening with traditional ways of farming such as the use of
small hoe (Nyirabunyagwa) while sowing beans, soybeans or maize. The case study suggests recommendations to close gender
gaps while engaging both men and women in different agricultural activities and helping them to reach equal benefits sharing.
Key words: Agricultural production, gender, LUC, CIP and Rwanda.
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1. Background
Rwanda’s economy is largely agrarian. More than 80% of Rwanda’s projected population
of 12.8 million in 2015 depends on farming, of which 51.7% is female and 48.3% is male.
In addition to the higher number of women, the sex ratio of the population is about 96 males
per 100 females in general which is lower than the world sex ratio which is approximately
102 females to 100 males as of 2015 (NISR, 2015). The country’s population is
predominantly rural, with more than four in five Rwandans living in rural area (NISR, 2011).
15% of women and 17% of men live in urban areas. In all, 66% of Rwandan households are
headed by men, and 34% by women. This number of women headed households has been
exacerbated by the 1994 genocide.
Population density in Rwanda is extremely high, and is estimated at 472.5 people per square
kilometre as of August, 2015 which is the highest in Sub-Saharan Africa. The total area of
the country measures 26,338 kilometre squares. Although about 79% of the country’s land
is classified as agricultural, only 11% of the land represents permanent crop land (USAID,
2010). The remaining agricultural land is covered with forests, marshlands and marginal
lands in the hillsides where permanent and routine cultivation of crops is not tenable due to
hectic soil erosion. Hence the land distribution is highly fragmented and skewed. Since the
productive land is small, each household with an average size between 5 and 6 members
utilizes on average 0.5ha.
Land constitutes the most valuable, productive and contested asset across the country. Its
proper management is therefore a necessity. However, most of the laws governing land
administration and management in the country were formulated by the colonialists and
remained the same till 90's ((NISR, 2011). Several reforms and policies are under
implementation in Rwanda, among these, the Land Use Consolidation (LUC) policy is key
for agricultural transformation (RoR, 2007). This policy is in line with Rwandan
Government efforts to mitigate hunger and poverty. It is one of the key pillars of the Crop
Intensification Program (CIP) and includes consolidated use of farm lands in the production
areas of Rwanda. This policy correlates not only with CIP but also with the “Villagisation”
known as new resettlement program “Imidugudu”. The villagisation program started earlier
in 2004 while CIP was initiated in 2007 followed by the LUC policy in 2008 (MINAGRI,
2012). LUC came in as a home-grown land management solution for Rwanda due to the fact
that it was implemented in very specific conditions, combining new resettlement
“Imidugudu” and intensification of agricultural production on small lands. Effectively, the
growing demographic pressure on land and continued fragmentation of household plots by
inheritance forced the land use patterns to be inevitably re-organized. The Government of
Rwanda started the consolidation of lands with other reforms and policies, in a manner never
seen. This case study highlights the achievements in relation to gender issues, land use policy
implementation under CIP and presents some recommendations.
The specific objectives of this study include:
i. To examine the gender issues in Rwanda
ii. To identify major constraints to inclusion of all gender categories in agricultural
production
iii. To establish the needs of closing the gender gaps
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2. Methodology
This case study was done in Crop Intensification Program sites of
………………..,…………….,……………..,…………………….and ……………………
in Rwanda. Five big CIP sites were purposively sampled according to…….. The study
methodology was majorly qualitative and data collection involved secondary data review
and primary data collection through focus group discussions and key informant interviews
that were conducted in February 2016. Data was then summarized into a report.
3. Findings
a) Significance of gender issues in Rwanda
Rwanda is internationally recognized as a world leader in promoting women's
empowerment. In 2007, HE Paul Kagame, the President of Rwanda, won the 2007 African
Gender Award in recognition of his efforts in developing the nation and promoting equality
among Rwandan women and men after the 1994 genocide (MIGEPROF, 2010). In the
immediate post-conflict period, the Government undertook radical and far reaching reforms
to address the political, social, legal, and economic status of women. Of particular
importance were legal reforms granting women property rights and enabling them to inherit
property, including land. Rwanda is one of 30 countries in Africa to have ratified the African
Union Protocol on the Rights of Women. The Constitution, adopted in 2003, proactively
promotes gender equality. It outlaws any form of gender discrimination, and enshrines the
principle of equality within marriage. It requires women to hold at least 30% of decision
making posts, as a positive discrimination (RoR, 2003). The legal status and rights of men
and women in Rwanda are discussed further in Parliament. These reforms have led to some
exceptional gains, where more than 60% of Rwanda's parliament is female, and the country
has essentially achieved gender parity in primary education. Several important offices and
functions are now held by women. Moreover, gender-responsive budget initiatives aim to
inform resource allocation in four key ministries (Agriculture, Education, Health, and
Infrastructure).
Nonetheless, a patriarchal culture and persistent disparities continue to characterize gender
relations in Rwanda’s population. Disparities persist in post-primary education; in access to
and control of assets, property (including land), and economic resources; in decision-making
at household and community levels; in family responsibilities and unpaid care work; and in
the experience of violence, harassment, conflict, and insecurity. Sexual and gender-based
violence (SGBV) persists at a certain level in the country. In many respects, it has proven
difficult to translate Rwanda's strong leadership attitude, and positive legal and institutional
framework, into effective change on the ground, especially for more than 80% of the
population living in rural areas and in smaller communities. More broadly, and
notwithstanding extensive sensitization efforts to implement gender policies, the capacity to
enforce them effectively remains limited. While progress for women on the political front
has been impressive, especially at the national level, progress in women’s economic
empowerment has not been as strong and economic opportunities, and the associated
benefits, remain markedly gender differentiated.
At the same time, important disparities persist between men and women in agriculture
production which is in the hands of women (80%). Yet, women receive less than 10% of
agricultural extension/advisory service delivery. Estimates from NSIR (2012) suggests that
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providing the same level of access to farm inputs and education to women farmers as men,
will result in 20% yield increase.
Several agencies have made major steps in identifying differences between women and men
through various techniques for gender analysis. This has been an important step towards
identifying strategies that take into account the activities of women and men respectively
and provide opportunities and benefits to both. A further step that is now receiving more
attention with the recognition of gender equality as a strategic objective of development is
the identification of opportunities to reduce gender inequalities and support progress towards
more equal relations between women and men (Longwe and Sara, 1990).
b) LUC as a driving component of the Crop Intensification Program
Several policies are being implemented in Rwanda to drive agricultural growth and reduce
poverty. In this regard, the Land Use Consolidation (LUC) policy was implemented in 2007
by the Government of Rwanda through the Ministry of Agriculture, as part of the Crop
Intensification Program (CIP). The CIP aims to significantly increase the production of food
crops and provide Rwanda with greater food security and self-sufficiency. This program
includes consolidation of land use as the main pillar, facilitation of inputs (improved seeds
and fertilizers) distribution, provision of extension services and post-harvest technologies
(e.g. driers and storage facilities). Currently, the program focuses on eight priority crops
namely maize, wheat, rice, Irish potatoes, beans, soybeans, cassava and banana. This
program is also supported by other initiatives like land-husbandry, irrigation and
mechanization infrastructure development to bring more land under production, avoid
dependency on rain-fed farming system and use of farm power in the context of a market-
oriented agriculture.
Under CIP implementation, good agronomic practices such as planting in rows (69%),
weeding (62,5%), soil erosion control (55%), pests and disease control (38%) are very well
adopted within the consolidated sites where mono-cropping is also practiced. However, there
is very low adoption in the surrounding farms and some farmers even on consolidated sites
still prefer intercropping (32%) to mono-cropping due to several reasons. Another challenge
to this program is related to the postharvest facilities especially the drying ground sheds
which are not enough across the consolidated sites. The farmers who are organized into
cooperatives have more storage facilities, more market linkages and are able to market their
produce on time at better prices as opposed to those not organized into cooperatives.
Nevertheless, good results have been registered. On one hand, consolidated area has
increased by 20-fold from 28,016Ha in 2008 to 817,691Ha in 2016 (Figure 2).
Figure 2: Increase in consolidated area in Ha from 2007 to
2016 (RAB, 2016)
Figure 3.Change in production from 2007 to 2016,
RAB, 2016
0
300,000
600,000
900,000
2007 2008 2009 2011 2012 2016
28,01666,000
254,448
502,916602,000
817,691
Are
a in
Ha
Years
012345
5
2.5 3 32
0.32
0.2
Num
ber
of
fold
s
Crops
55 | P a g e
On the other hand, the consolidated production of priority crops under CIP has also brought
significant increases in food production: maize by 5-fold; wheat and cassava by about 3-
fold; Irish potato, soybean and beans by about 2-fold; rice and banana respectively by 0.3
and 0.2-fold (Figure 3).
Interestingly, the productivity in consolidated land areas has consistently been higher for
maize and wheat. This has caused a paradigm shift from producing enough to producing
surplus thus placing the country’s vision for market oriented agriculture on track. The drive
for consolidation of land use has a spiralling effect on the cultivation of priority crops as it
indirectly promotes the use of inputs and extension services by farmers. The expansion of
land area under cultivation of priority crops and the increase in production and yields are
highly correlated.
c) Change in gender relations in bean production activities at CIP site level
To assess this change, RAB scientists used Moser and Carolyn (1993) Gender framework to
disaggregate control of resources and decision/power. What men and women do in relation
to food production? Who has access to and control over production resources? Why? Results
on bean production are presented below.
This change in male and female relations is shown by gender disaggregated data for bean
production activities collected before introduction of new technologies and after wide
introduction of land consolidation, planting in rows, best agroforestry and staking practices
with CIP (RAB, 2015).
i) Contribution of men and women in Rwandan agriculture before CIP
implementation
In spite of the observed gender imbalances and overall patriarchal society system, it is
important to note that Rwanda has a National Gender Policy. Rwandese know what gender
equality is and have government offices promoting and creating gender equality daily. This
has trickled down to the village level especially with CIP implementation since 2007.
Before CIP and other gender related reforms, males were more involved in land ownership
(92%) and marketing of agricultural products (90%). The introduction of technologies in
agriculture such as consolidating small plots and planting in rows has attracted more males
in planting (53%), weeding (86%), and harvesting (44%) activities of different crops as
shown by Figure 4.
Figure 4. Contribution of men and women
in Rwandan agriculture before CIP
Implementation
Figure 5. Land use consolidation, CIP
implementation, RAB, 2011
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Traditionally and until very recently before CIP implementation, women were overloaded
with bean production activities in addition to their usual home duties. In the traditional
system, women did more than 60% of the land preparation, more than 85% of the weeding;
and more than 70% of the harvesting. Women were also more involved than men in
transporting (60%), drying (57%), threshing (48%), winnowing (79%), storing (65%) and
marketing beans (61%) respectively. Women also conducted 76% of the bean pests and
diseases control. Apart from staking (80%) and threshing (52%) activities that greatly
involved men participation as shown by Figure 7, bean was a woman crop at an average of
64% in Rwanda before CIP.
Figure 2. Bean production activities by sex before CIP, ISAR, 2005
ii) Contribution of men and women in production after CIP Implementation
However, new technologies introduced by researchers and extension workers through land
use consolidation and CIP have changed the gender imbalances in agriculture production. A
significant change in roles between females and males came after the introduction of new
technologies as described below.
For example, when beans were planted in lines, men involved themselves massively (86%)
in weeding activities, pests and disease control (60%) and marketing (66%). However, on
average, beans especially the climbing variety became a man’s crop at 51.3% compared to
48.7% for women involved in bean production activities. In the case of pests and diseases
control, pumps were introduced through CIP and they are both used by females and males
(Figure 6).
Figure 3. Pests and disease control using pumps
Perc
en
tage
of
Mal
es
and
Fem
ales
57 | P a g e
With increased production, beans became a cash crop and attracted more men not only in
their planting (53%) and weeding (86%) but also in marketing (66%) (Figure 7).
Figure 4. Bean production activities by sex after introduction of CIP, RAB, 2016
Men do the majority of the weeding (86%) simply because the use of the nyirabunyagwa
(very small traditional hoe for weeding) has greatly reduced and replaced by the normal hoe.
According to the farmers interviewed, no man would use the nyirabunyagwa hoe in
Rwandan culture. It requires one to bend for long hours which men could not support as well
as women do (Figure 8).
Figure 5. A woman intercropping beans and
maize using small hoe
Figure 6. Wife and husband planting
together beans in rows
Before, with a small hoe, sowing beans was a woman’s task, now with CIP activities, things
have changed: men and women work together from land preparation to harvesting (Figure
9).
This had never happened before the technology of planting in rows was introduced by RAB
researchers and extensionists through CIP and LUC.
Perc
en
tage
of
Mal
es
and
Fem
ales
58 | P a g e
Figure 7. Planting in rows has been adopted
by many farmers at Consolidated site level
The promotion of climbing beans revealed to scientists the large involvement of males in
weeding when beans are planted in rows, and how men can help women in bean-farming
activities from cultivation to storage. This suggests that other new technologies might also
encourage male farmers into “women’s” activities thereby bridging the gender gap further
in these areas. For example, winnowing is still a women task and researchers are working
hard to innovate appropriate technologies to attract more men into this activity as it was
observed for weeding.
4. Conclusions and recommendations
Traditional farming systems had created division of roles in agriculture between men and
women. However, production of beans, maize, rice as well as cassava and Solanum potatoes
through CIP has shown reverse participation of men and women in planting, weeding,
application of pesticides and so on. In order for Rwanda to close the gender gaps in
agricultural production further, the focus should be on building the technical and
organisational capacity of farmers while developing new technologies to reduce drudgery
for both gender. One set of activities is to support the creation and strengthening of farmers’
cooperatives, so that they can plan, innovate and implement market-oriented production,
processing and marketing of agricultural commodities. Another initiative involves working
with the Private Sector to launch a decentralised extension service for all stakeholders in the
Agricultural sector. This will include the establishment of demonstration plots at village
level in collaboration with local leaders. Involvement of men and women in the demo plot
management is a must for learning purposes. Also, access to general agricultural education
opportunities should be equal for men and women, while the specific needs of female
farmers should be met by specially designed courses on business and entrepreneurship.
Figure 13. Planting beans in rows is
becoming common and easy to weed.
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References
Government of Rwanda (2007), Vision 2020 Policy, Country Publications, Kigali,
Republic of Rwanda
Moser and Carolyn O. N. (1993). Gender Planning and Development: Theory, Practice &
Training. New York: Routledge.
NISR (2011), Rwanda Statistical Year Book, National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda,
Kigali
NISR (2015), Fourth Population and Housing Census, Rwanda. Thematic Report.
Characteristics of households and housing. Kigali, January 2014
MINAGRI (2012), Farm Land Use consolidation in Rwanda, Assessment from the
perspectives of Agriculture Sector, MINAGRI,Kigali, Rwanda
Longwe and Sara (1990). “From Welfare to Empowerment: the Situation of Women in
Development in Africa. A Post-UN Women's Decade Update and Future
Directions”. Women in International Development, Michigan State
University, Working Paper # 204. Cited by: http://www.oecd.org/dac
MIGEPROF (2010), National Gender Policy, Kigali, Rwanda
MINAGRI, (2012), Annual reports, Kigali
RoR (2003), Constitution of Rwanda, Kigali
USAID (2010) Country Profile: Rwanda, Kigali. http://www.oecd.org/dac consulted on
8/8/2015
60 | P a g e
CASE STUDY 2: TANZANIA: MOMBO SCHEME IN TANGA REGION
Mechanization technology application and Gender integration in rice value chain:
By Mahava, Y. M; Ishika, M. M and Bayinga, M; Division of Research and Development; Ministry of
Agriculture Livestock and Fisheries, Tanzania, August, 2016.
1. Background
Rice can be grown twice in a year in the irrigation schemes in Tanzania. Mombo is one of
those schemes with men and women farmers growing rice. The study was done to analyse
gender perspectives in order find out whether it is possible to have fairness in rice value
chain at farm level. Mombo was a traditional Rice Paddy Irrigation plot with no land
levelling, irregular farm plots, no separation of irrigation and drainage canals and in addition,
preventing farmers from individual operation. The constraints were identified with a gender
perspective during the study, and then interventions were done to solve those challenges.
Several technologies were introduced such as rice transplanting and weeding by use of
machines to minimise the workload on women. Trainings on income and expenditure were
also conducted and challenges faced in rice value chain identified (JICA, 2011).
The specific objectives of the study include:
i. To identify problems that hinder rice production under irrigation scheme with a gender perspective
ii. To analyse the introduced labour saving technologies with a gender perspective
iii. To analyse how women are sharing benefits from rice sales
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2. Methodology
This study was done in Mombo Irrigation Scheme Agricultural Cooperatives Society. This
scheme has a total number of 429 famers (irrigators) of these 233 were female farmers and
196 were male farmers. The study methodology was essentially qualitative and participatory
in nature with intensive secondary literature review and extensive field study. Primary data
was collected through Focus Group Discussions (FGDs 15 women and 12 men) and key
informants (5 men and 4 women) who were all rice irrigators. Data organization and
summarization was done to produce a comprehensive and consumable report.
3. Findings
a) Problem Identification in the rice value chain with a gender perspective
Following the study done by JICA (2011), it revealed tradition and norms as barriers in
achieving fairness in rice value chain.
i) Problems in paddy production under irrigation schemes identified include:
Mechanization was mainly for men, very little for women however, women
contributed a large share of labour force than their counterparts for unpaid labour
Income distribution was not fair; there was no transparency on the use of the benefits
after sales
Time-consuming workload was a big burden for women
Reproductive work was mainly done by women adding on their daily workload
Access to credit was a challenge to both men and women
Women had membership in cooperatives but were not involved in making decisions
Diversification: collective decisions hampered individual initiative to expand and try
new varieties and methods
Access to post-harvest processes and marketing this was biased to men at the stage of
earning cash
Challenges for female traders
iii) During the study, some of the listed challenges were solved and the others were at a
good stage of solution while others were in the process of being solved. However, some
other new challenges were reported to emerge such as:
One of the combine harvesters was poorly working and farmers were planning to buy a third one. The milling machine had already been installed but the operators had not
yet received training to start milling; thus, more paddy is sold at farm thus reduced profit.
The machines from private traders are not as sophisticated as the one provided by PHRD. The machines are incapable of grading and packing and winnowing.
Selling paddy at zip has not yet been adopted well. The government is fighting for farmers to sell their produce at zip (70-80kgs of paddy) avoiding excess packaging, commonly known as kilemba or lumbesa which is now between 90-100kgs from
120kgs the former weight.
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b) Introduced Labour Saving Technologies with Gender Perspective
Labour saving technologies have played a great role in changing men’s gender roles in rice
weeding in Mombo irrigation scheme. Improvement of the technology of rice transplanting
and weeding which was the main women’s role has been simplified by using machines. Men
who dislike bending in weeding have changed their attitude as they now assist their
counterparts in weeding using simple machines. Female farmers were surprised with this
positive change and happily reported that, “men started weeding in rice field with
machines” (JICA, 2011).
Figure 4: Weeding by simple machines
Source: JICA, 2011
To date women’s workload has tremendously reduced because farmers not only use simple
machines in weeding, but also use herbicides. More projects have assisted Mombo irrigators
with mechanization technologies which has saved their time and energy and hence reduced
workload for women. The supporting project i.e. PHRD has provided the irrigators with two
combine harvesters which have minimized women’s workload by 100% on rice. The
facilitation has significantly reduced the workload on harvesting, collecting, threshing,
winnowing and removing debris. In Mombo, more women (54%) are involved in rice
production compared to their male counterparts (46%); other men were reported to engage
more in business at the centre along the road from Dar es Salaam, Tanga, Morogoro to
Kilimanjaro, Arusha and Manyara Regions.
The combine harvesters enabled the farmers to; reduce cost of harvesting compared to hired
labour, reduce food loss and number of bags known just after harvest. These farmers were
supported with a sophisticated machine with a condition that the irrigators’ association
builds a machine house. The machine house was built and the milling machine was already
installed. To start effective operations, the operators are awaiting training. Maximum
operation of the machines will help farmers to sell rice instead of paddy; other activities will
be reduced such as winnowing of rice, grading and packing and hence more reduction of
workload in processing. It was also reported that, cost of post-harvest handling (cutting,
collecting, threshing and winnowing and debris removal) has been reduced twice as much
from TZS 490,000/ha to TZS 254,800/ha.
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Table 1: Women workload with application of mechanization technology Activity AM
(%) AW (%)
YM (%)
YW (%)
Comments
Production Land preparation 80 20 90 10 Men supervise the land preparation Construction of bands 100 100 Men and youth’s role Seed selection - 100 - 100 Women’s role Nursery preparation 100 - 100 - Men and youth’s role Uprooting seedlings - 100 - 100 Women’s role Transplanting paddy - 100 5 95 Sometimes done by machines that men
operate women workload reduced Irrigation 90 10 100 - Men’s role, very few widows carry out the activity
Weeding 60 40 70 30 Done by machines or herbicides Men’s and women’s workload minimized, men operate
Inputs purchasing 100 - 100 - Men’s role Fertilizer application 100 - 100 - Men’s and youth’s role Herbicides application 80 20 80 20 Women fetch water, men do application Insecticides application 80 20 80 20 Women carry water, men do application Value addition Paddy harvesting 100 - 100 - Use combine harvesters
Workload for women has been reduced. Men are supervisors
Threshing - - - - Done by machine; men’s workload reduced Winnowing paddy - - - - Done by machine; reduced women’s
workload
Debris removal in Paddy
- - - - Women’s role, taken over by machines
Transportation 80 20 100 - Hire motorbikes (young men are riders) commonly known as bodaboda) Paddy storage Men are responsible for paddy storage
Drying paddy for Milling
70 30 50 50 Hire labour both men and women
Milling 80 20 80 20 Done by machines men traders and few women supervise during processing Winnowing rice - - - - Done by machines, before technology was introduced it was women’s role
Sorting and grading - - - - Done by machines Before technology was introduced it was women’s role
Weighing rice 100 - 100 - Men’s role, few women traders hire men’s labour
Packaging rice 100 - 100 - Men’s role, few women traders hire men’s labour
Trading/Marketing Paddy sales 60 40 60 40 Sold by both men and women Rice sales 70 30 80 20 Sold by both men and women
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i) Contribution of new technologies to rice yield
Average rice yield per hectare has increased from 2.8 t/ha (2002) to 4.3 t/ha (2005) according
to a study conducted by JICA (2011). To date (2016), average rice yield has increased from
4.3t/ha in 2005 to 7.6 t/ha. The introduced technologies have played a great role in rice
production and productivity. Such improved technologies include mechanization (tractors,
power tillers, weeders, combining harvesters); simple weeders were introduced by Lake
Irrigation zone and some few farmers have managed to fabricate them, improved seeds
(SARO5), use of fertilizers and leguminous crops (example, lablab) and good agricultural
practices. Knowledge of the use of herbicides (2,4D) is imparted by agro dealers and
extension workers. Improved technologies have capacitated farmers in levelling land for
rice, water management, cleaning canals and farm environment, better use of inputs, and
sharing well the benefits from rice production. They also received subsidy from the
government mainly on seeds and fertilizers (DAP and UREA). Farmers are transforming
from subsistence to commercial farming and have learnt to plan well for their coming season.
They also had a project on saline soils control under ARI-Dakawa, and lablab utilization
(processing of biscuits, cakes and porridge) by ARI-Mlingano.
ii) Use of moisture residue after paddy harvest
Farmers were introduced to a new crop known as lablab to make use of the moisture residue
after harvesting paddy. Furthermore, the lablab is used for human consumption as well as
animal feeds. It is a leguminous crop which adds fertility to the soil and prevents soil erosion
as it is a cover crop. It was found to have very good potential for the household income as it
is exported to Kenya. Farmers (men and women) share the income from lablab production.
Average yield is 1.96 t/ha and sales range from TZS 1,000/kg to 3,000/kg depending on time
of selling. Production cost for lablab given was TZS 639,450/ha and revenue TZS
1,960,000/ha (used the minimum price) thus, the gross profit earning was high, about TZS
1,320,550/ha.
c) Benefits from rice and lablab production
About 70% of the Mombo farmers’ livelihood improvement particularly rice irrigators has
been contributed by rice and lablab sales. The sharing of benefits from crop sales was
reported to be fair between men and women. The patriarchy system has been minimised and
they now plan together for household expenditures, pay fees for children’s education and
other school requirements as well as building improved houses. Some farmers have
purchased motorcycles (bodaboda) for business (give youths to ride and provides TZS
10,000/day).
d) Capacity building on benefits sharing
Men and women in Mombo were trained on household management (used candies as income
and make an annual expenditure plan together with wife and husband). “Happiness has come
to our home” (JICA, 2011).
The training conducted in 2011 has been very useful to the irrigators on rice farming; they
are now transparent, share benefits from crop sales and other sources of income. Women are
now actively participating in meetings, leadership, trainings and decision making.
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e) Lessons learned from this study
Problems identification and prioritization should be done before intervention
Fair burden sharing and trainings have changed farmers’ attitudes, empowered
both men and women and also increased willingness to work. For example, men
dislike bending in weeding but through weeders has facilitated men to weed by
machines
Women were involved in income distribution and consumption, also in decision
making, sharing of benefits and families are happy. Training on gender sharing of
resource and benefit has been useful.
Development of women friendly technologies reduces women's labour
(in ploughing, planting, weeding, harvesting, threshing, winnowing and sorting
and packing of rice). Men have changed their role because they have been
attracted by the simple machines and thus assist their counterparts in paddy value
chain.
Gender training (gender roles, time use and household management)
4. Conclusion
Working on a commodity along the value chain is good for intervention. Fairness in terms
of resources and benefits can easily be observed and the weak links easily strengthened.
Farmers can easily change their attitude and roles if they are well trained and simple
mechanization technologies introduced. The trained farmers were able to fairly manage their
income and expenditures and were happy. They can now easily plan and use their benefits
together as planned. Transparency and happiness exists in their homes.
5. Recommendations
Develop agricultural tools and machineries, transportation means and systems,
processing technology, storage technology which are women friendly
Improve the existing SACCOS, rural finance and credit organizations, FINCA
and Women funding organizations
Promote production and marketing of rice as cash crop
Improve irrigation associations, agricultural cooperatives, SACCOS, local
government budgeting, collective purchase of agricultural inputs, production,
storage and marketing
Transform decision-making processes at the household level
Promote understanding gender roles, inheritance and property rights and
household management
Transform the community norms and practices about gender issues
Promote gender equality and equity in law and institutions
Plan, implement, monitor and evaluate gender policies, programs and projects
(central and local)
Develop village collective storage system and improve the Warehouse Receipt
System
Develop direct marketing channels by farmers
Improve the capacity of local women traders (access to finance and marketing
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know-how)
Facilitate producers to have a warehouse for paddy storage as they wait for good
prices 6. Future plan
Complete the warehouse construction for paddy storage, will allow them to store
awaiting good prices
Buy a new combine harvester to increase efficiency on harvesting and give
opportunity for hire to the needy farmers who are not irrigators, they normally pay
TZS 117,600/ha (60,000/acre)
Make good use of sophisticated milling machine for quality rice
References
JICA (2011). Mainstreaming Gender Equity in Irrigated Rice Production in Tanzania: Africa
Regional Workshop, Addis Ababa from 22-24 March 2011.
