Integrating Gender into a Small-Scale

Cotton Development Program

Rekha Mehra, Ph.D.

Workshop on Gender and Market-Oriented Agriculture(AgriGender 2011)

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia31 January-2 February, 2011

The Cotton Development Program • Partnership between DEG/GTZ and private

sector cotton ginners

• 3 countries: Malawi, Uganda and Zambia

• Countries where– Per capita income low (e.g., $250/year in

Malawi– Poverty rate is high (e.g. 38% in Uganda,

70% in Zambia)

The Cotton Development Program• Cotton is a major cash crop and main source of

income for low-income producers

• But cotton facing problems: low yields, low returns, lack of access to inputs and credit and lack of market access for small-scale producers

• Goals of the program: are to increase productivity, improve market linkages and increase of small-scale farmers on a large scale

Program Implementation

• Private sector ginners implement program

• Contract with individual farmers—sell them inputs; expect farmers to sell them cotton

• Agents/distributors offer “package” of inputs and services : - Training in improved farming practices- Seeds, fertilizer, pesticides and other inputs- Credit to buy equipment

• May work through producer groups

Goals of Gender Studies

• Devise gender strategies to ensure both women and men – participate in project activities and – benefit from improved productivity, market

linkages and better returns

Gender Analysis Involved

• Understand gendered roles and responsibilities; constraints and opportunities

• Identify entry points for interventions—remove constraints; tap opportunities

• Well-targeted set of gender indicators to complement & fit overall program indicators

Gender Context

• Women lag behind men in education and literacy

• Land is a critical asset: but women have limited access regardless of legal situation

• Gender-based violence and polygamy affect household labor allocation and decision-making in cotton production & income disposition

Gender Assessment Methodology

• ICRW conducted field research from Jun-Dec 2009 • Rapid assessments

• Document reviews; key informant interviews; focus group discussions with

--company and project staff; --field staff (e.g. agents), --ginnery staff (employees and managers); --farmers (women and men)

Gender Study: Findings

Women provide much of the labor for cotton production—from planting to harvesting, and some marketing

Roles and responsibilitiesA common reality:

WOMEN• Women provide labor for all

aspects of cotton production • Even and preparation

especially when done by hand (cases in Zambia Eastern Province where women also seen owing and plowing)

• Polygamous HHs: cases in which women cultivate cotton plots separately from husbands

MEN• Men control decisions

relating to crop management, marketing and cotton income

• Land preparation: done by men especially when using oxen

• Men dominate use of pesticides (women involved in hauling water for sprayers) + marketing and sale

Gender Study: Findings

Women are underrepresented in all program activities and outreach– as farmers and contractors – in access to inputs– in attendance at trainings– in farmer group membership– among program implementation staff

Sex distribution of farmers:Zambia and Uganda

* estimates based on names of contractees - 57% unambiguous – 43% missing values ** data provided only for farmers with 2009 contracts => proxy for sex ratio of farmers

Outgrower networks (Z)* Men WomenFarmers 52% 5%Distributor/buyer-agents 95% 5%

Outgrower networks (U) Male WomenRegistered Farmers 76% 24%PO members 68% 32%Farm acres inspected** 80% 20%

Attendance in trainings Shire Valley (Malawi)

Block Male Female %Female Male Female %FemaleEastbank 570 328 37% 258 168 39%Westbank 252 50 17% 184 80 30%Westbank 2 167 19 10% 64 13 17%Bereu 181 137 43% 204 76 27%Therere 355 150 30% 283 144 34%Ngabu 457 164 26% 144 34 19%Miseu 4 417 114 22% 151 19 11%Thendo 514 83 14% 358 45 11%Nsanje 256 147 37% 67 81 55%Total 3169 1192 27% 1713 660 28%

Planting Spraying

Access to inputs provided on credit(Malawi)

Region Female Male Total % FemaleBangula 802 4097 4899 16%Balaka 1367 4339 5706 24%Salima 222 1364 1586 14%Total 2391 9800 12191 20%

Returns to cotton farming• Accrue directly and, in some cases, exclusively

to men

• Men avoided sharing with wives information on payments received

• Some men reported sharing with wives 10-20% of income earned from cotton (e.g., )

• Other men agreed with wives on use of income—labor dependency for next season

Why do returns to women matter?Vis-à-vis the program, the objective is to

increase yields, incentives matter:

– Women reduce labor on cotton production when price is low, payments come late, or returns are not shared from their work on “men’s” cotton plots

Gender Integration Potential

• Access to project inputs—farm input delivery, credit, training

• Contracting

• Producer group membership

• Payments to women farmers

• M&E to show results

Gender Integration Strategies

1. Address returns to women farmers

– Contract with married women farmers, e.g., Via separate plots for women--some men willing (Zambia)

– Transparency in payments—right to information/equality in decision-making

– Gender dynamics training—build into training curriculums—some already happening

Gender Integration Strategies

2. Improve ratio of women training participants

– Intensify outreach to women—improve information flow to reach women with right messages

– Enroll couples in training or organize separate trainings for women

– Hire more women extension agents– Select more women lead farmers on demonstration

plots

Gender Integration Strategies

3. Increase women’s participation in producer organizations– Change membership criteria for women to

qualify– Alternatively, organize women-only groups– Increase women in leadership– Encourage bye-laws that establish spousal

rights;– Ensure women and men understand laws; &

understand payment systems

Gender Integration Strategies

4. Track progress and results via monitoring and evaluation system

– Systematically collect sex-disaggregated data

– Obtain baseline gendered understanding– Set gender-based targets and select

indicators for progress on gender goals

Expected Results of Gender Integration

• Program planners and implementers take full account of women as farmers

• Change the way programs are implemented to ensure both women & men have access to resources and information

• Agricultural development programs work better• With success, benefits accrue to both

women & men—lives improve; economies improve