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The Gendered Possibilities for Participating in Agricultural Intensification in Sub-Saharan Africa – a Longitudinal Perspective from Seven Regions in Malawi, Tanzania and Zambia

22 Pages Posted: 15 Sep 2020 Publication Status: Preprint

See all articles by Agnes Andersson Djurfeldt

Agnes Andersson Djurfeldt

Lund University - Department of Human Geography

Göran Djurfeldt

Lunds Universitet, Department of Human Geography

Ellen Hillbom

Lund University

Aida Cuthbert Isinika

Sokoine University of Agriculture, Institute of Continuing Education (ICE)

Miriam Joshua

Chancellor College, University of Malawi, Department of Geography and Earth Sciences; University of Malawi

Audrey Kalindi

University of Zambia, Population Studies Department

Elibariki Msuya

Sokoine University of Agriculture, School of Agricultural Economics and Business Studies

Wapulumuka Mulwafu

University of Malawi

Abstract

This paper looks at the gendered possibilities for participating in agricultural intensification in seven regions in Malawi, Zambia and Tanzania, using a longitudinal, regional, mixed methods approach combining household level data on land, labour and use of agricultural techniques for male and female farm managers as well as qualitative data collected from within male-headed households and community level data. The analysis is based on a quantitative dataset covering 1070 small scale farmers covering the period 2002 to 2017/18, as well as around roughly 350 qualitative interviews collected over the course of a decade. The results point to great variation between the regions as well as the countries in terms of access to land, but also suggest that gender relations around land are changing as a result both of deliberate policies as well as the emergence of rental markets for land. Indeed, gender-based gaps in cultivated area have fallen in some regions, but are persistent in others. Surprisingly, neither tenure security nor formalisation of tenure is differentiated between male and female respondents, in any of the regions. Access to family labour is however smaller on female managed farms and labour shortages are generally higher on these farms in most regions. Capital and labour intensive technologies add to gender based differentiation in cultivated area in regions where commercial opportunities are driving intensification, whereas gender based gaps in the use of these technologies have narrowed in poor regions as a result of deteriorating conditions for male farmers.

Keywords: Sub-Saharan Africa, smallholders, agricultural intensification, mixed-methods, gender, Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia

Suggested Citation

Djurfeldt, Agnes Andersson and Djurfeldt, Göran and Hillbom, Ellen and Isinika, Aida Cuthbert and Joshua, Miriam and Kalindi, Audrey and Msuya, Elibariki and Mulwafu, Wapulumuka, The Gendered Possibilities for Participating in Agricultural Intensification in Sub-Saharan Africa – a Longitudinal Perspective from Seven Regions in Malawi, Tanzania and Zambia. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3683767 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3683767

Agnes Andersson Djurfeldt (Contact Author)

Lund University - Department of Human Geography ( email )

Lund
Sweden

Göran Djurfeldt

Lunds Universitet, Department of Human Geography ( email )

Ellen Hillbom

Lund University

Box 117
Lund, SC Skane S221 00
Sweden

Aida Cuthbert Isinika

Sokoine University of Agriculture, Institute of Continuing Education (ICE) ( email )

Miriam Joshua

Chancellor College, University of Malawi, Department of Geography and Earth Sciences ( email )

University of Malawi ( email )

Audrey Kalindi

University of Zambia, Population Studies Department ( email )

Elibariki Msuya

Sokoine University of Agriculture, School of Agricultural Economics and Business Studies ( email )

Wapulumuka Mulwafu

University of Malawi ( email )

Chancellor College
Mathematical Sciences
Zomba, 265
Malawi

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