Women, Markets and Intra-household Dynamics

Jemimah Njuki International Livestock Research Institute

Presented at the Intra-household and Agricultural productivity Convening

Washington DC25 September 2009

Introduction….. Women are significantly excluded from markets and

opportunities for them to move from subsistence to market oriented agriculture are much lower

Women farmers face some disadvantages such as low mobility, less access to credit and inputs, less access to market information and less access to other productive resources

Women often hold distinct and obligations with specific roles even in marketing which may affect their ability to participate in more export oriented and regional markets

There is evidence that women tend to lose income and control as a product moves from the farm to the market

There is evidence that income under the control of women is more likely to be used to improve family welfare (family food consumption, education, child nutrition etc)—Quisumbing et al, 1995, FAO, 2006)

The Key Question

So then, how do we increase women’s access to markets while ensuring their control of

income in an increasingly commercializing sector?

Product Market location Approach Incentives

The research framework?

Linking smallholder farmers to markets with non traditional cash crops leads to more income under the control of women compared to traditional cash crops, however with increasing commercialization, income share by women from these non traditional crops is going down

Integrating gender in approaches for linking smallholder farmers to markets improves women’s control of income and household decision making

Domestic markets, that are closer, have low entry requirements are more beneficial to women

Household decision Making and control of income by women

Improved Household Welfare / Food Security and Nutrition

Increased commercialization of agriculture especially food crops

?

Approaches for linking farmers to markets

The Hypothesis

Research Approach

Three-pronged approach

Action research & implementation at specific pilot learning sites in Uganda and Malawi

Longitudinal income tracking studies in the pilot learning sites

Comparative studies of different approaches for linking farmers to markets in sites where other partners are working (World Vision, Concern, NARO, CEDO) Variety of approaches used for linking farmers to markets

Contract farming and out-grower schemes that aim at linking small holder farmers with large scale producers on contractual basis

Co-operative movements especially for traditional cash crops

Participatory approaches that build capacity of farmer organizations to link to markets

The Product : Comparing income share to women across traditional and non traditional cash crops

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

2003/4 2004/5 2005/6 2006/7

Cropping Season

% S

ha

re o

f In

co

me

Beans Tobacco Soyabeans

Despite the decline in women’s income share with soya-beans and beans, women have a higher income share in these crops compared to traditional cash crops such as tobacco and cotton

The Product: Beans as a woman’s crop??

As the bean enterprise becomes more profitable, the percentage share managed and spent by women decreases

An almost similar rate of decline in income than the rate of increase in real income going to women is evident

Similar trends observed for other non-traditional crops like soya beans

Higher income share during winter season when sales are low

As income from soya bean increases during the summer season, percentage share of income goes down

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

2003/4 2004/5 2005/6 2006/7

Tota

l am

ount

(US

D)

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

% s

hare

of w

omen

Percentage share of income from sale of beans in Malawi

The Market Location: Factors influencing income share by women

Variables Standardized coefficient

t-values

Approach used to link to markets 1=Participatory approaches integrating gender, 0=Other (contract farming, out grower…)

0.277 2.298**

Sex of head of household -0.038 -0.331

Do women hold committee/group position in the group

0.020 0.178

Beans ranked as the main source of income

-0.194 -1.567*

Beans sold to local vendors or from home

0.273 2.309**

Farmers have access to market information

0.273 2.396**

Education of the head of household

-0.20 -1.834*

*** , **, * Significant at 1%, 5% and 10% respectively

The Approach: Factors influencing income share by women

• Gender integration = through community training on gender, men and women’s selection of priority enterprises, provision of inputs to women’s groups

• While the approach used influenced income share from beans and soybeans, it did not influence women’s share of income from tobacco

Variables Standardized coefficient

t-values

Approach used to link to markets 1=Participatory approaches integrating gender, 0=Other (contract farming, out grower…)

0.277 2.298**

Sex of head of household -0.038 -0.331

Do women hold committee/group position in the group

0.020 0.178

Beans ranked as the main source of income

-0.194 -1.567*

Beans sold to local vendors or from home

0.273 2.309**

Farmers have access to market information

0.273 2.396**

Education of the head of household

-0.20 -1.834*

*** , **, * Significant at 1%, 5% and 10% respectively

Conclusions Increasing commercialization while having positive outcomes in

increasing farmers incomes has implications for gender &

subsequently for food security

The choice of enterprises / product matters; there is differential

income share going to women between traditional cash crops

such as tobacco & non traditional cash crops such as beans and

soybeans.

Approaches that integrate gender either through training, selection

of women specific enterprises lead to more income share going to

women compared to the more tradition approaches such as

contract farming The location of the market is still a contentious issue—while women

control more income from local markets, or farm gate sales, such markets

are also commonly low value

Participatory Impact Diagramming

Thank you for your attention