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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
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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)
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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)
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Gender Study: Findings
Women provide much of the labor for cotton production—from planting to harvesting, and some marketing
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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
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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
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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%
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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
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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%
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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