new seeds and women’s welfare

johanna bergman lodin, dept of human geography, lund university. johanna.bergman-lodin@keg.lu.se

the case of nerica upland rice and gendered labordynamics in hoima district, uganda

ABSTRACTAfrican women farmers do not always benefit from, and are sometimes adversely affected by, theintroduction of new technologies, including high-yielding varieties and their often-associatedimproved management systems. This paper seeks to further this claim in the wake of what hasbeen referred to as the NERICA revolution in Uganda, by providing an illustration of the impact theintroduction of NERICA upland rice has had on the gendered labor dynamics in smallholderhouseholds in Hoima District. The concrete effects on women farmers are particularly considered.To date, “the success” of the dissemination of NERICA has mainly been measuredeconometrically in terms of production growth or household income gain. This type of analysisallows for capturing shifts in physiological deprivations on household level. But it omits thedimension of social deprivation that on an individual level considers the prevalence or absence ofempowering elements such as time, influence on decision making, access to information andeducation, etc. Having researched women’s experiences of the introduction of NERICA bothqualitatively and quantitatively, we conclude that while households that have adopted NERICAhave, as units, become better off in economic terms (their physiological deprivation reducing), theextreme labor burden NERICA induces on women exacerbates their social deprivations,particularly in terms of time poverty and drudgery. This has policy implications. If NERICA is goingto become a sustainable powerful poverty fighter in Uganda, as many hope, it is imperative thatthis aspect is addressed so as to avoid farmers opting out of the production over time.

new seeds and women’s welfare

johanna bergman lodindept of human geography lund university sweden

johanna.bergman-lodin@keg.lu.se

the case of nerica upland rice and gendered labor dynamics in

hoima district, ugandaseptember 28, 2010

nerica (new rice for africa)new group of high-yielding and stress-

tolerant upland rice varieties

nerica in uganda rice is becoming an important food!

NERICA introduced in 2002high-level commitment by top leadership

and development partnersest. +50,000ha

rapid adoption ratesdecreasing households’ income povertyannual rice import bill cut by 1/3 in 5y

our study2008-2009, main focus: Hoima District

mixed methods research: survey of 302 NERICA growers (smallholders) 2008 diary study to record precise family

labor input (13 households) more than 50 focus group interviews

key informant interviews with various rice value chain stakeholders

additional interviews in Kampala and in Luwero and Wakiso districts

nerica is an important crop+1/3 of total cultivated acreage

+75% sold off realizing +50% of farm income

(farm income share of total income: 85%)

this is the major benefit: MORE MONEY!BUT: the sharing of benefits is gendered!

and so is the sharing of costs!

labor intensity of nerica the labor intensive nature of NERICA was the

most frequently raised and returned-to topic during interviews and discussions

the farmers claim that the labor intensity of NERICA is their core production concern and

constraint

labor intensity perceived by the farmers as being made up of two dimensions: time

consumption and labor exhaustion/drudgery

most time consuming task in nerica production; 1st rank (%)

sex of respondentall

N=299male N=197

female N=102

crop protection (birds) 58.4 (3,5) 67.6 (4,7) 61.5 (2,8)weeding 28.4 (3,2) 16.7 (3,7) 24.4 (2,5)land preparation 11.7 (2,3) 8.8 (2,8) 10.7 (1,8)other tasks 1.5 (0,9) 6.9 (2,5) 3.3 (1,0)total 100,0 100,0 99,9

Data refer to the second season 2008. Numbers in parentheses indicate standard error means.

the gendered division of labor in hoima

women menland preparation + +++planting ++/+++ +/++weeding +++ +crop protection, incl. bird scaring +++ +harvesting ++/+++ +/++threshing + +++

Sources: Interviews with farmers and key informants (extension workers, NGOs, local government staff etc.).

scores: 1 – 10 time increasing with score

time consuming

women Ruhunga

men Kigabu

rice 10 4cassava 8 10bananas 10 10groundnuts 7 3coffee -- 10maize 7 3beans 5 2millet 7 --sweet potatoes 5 --tobacco -- --cabbage 6 --greens 3 --tomato 4 --onions 2 --

women’s and men’s

scores for the most

important crops they grow with regard to

time consumption

scores: 1 – 10 exhaustion increasing with score

labor exhausting

women Ruhunga

men Kigabu

men Ruhunga

rice 10 7 8cassava 9 7 2bananas 3 7 --groundnuts 6 6 5coffee -- 7 5maize 6 7 2beans 5 7 --millet 8 -- --sweet potatoes 7 -- --tobacco -- -- 10cabbage 2 -- --greens 4 -- --tomato 2 -- --onions 1 -- --

women’s and men’s scores for the most

important crops they grow with regard to

labor exhaustion

bird scaringrespondents’ voices

red-billed quelea”the greatest biological limit to african cereal

production” board on science and technology for international

development, national research council, u.k. (1996). lost crops of africa: volume 1: grains; p. 273

photos: www.biodiversityexplorer.org; www.mangoverde.com

diary study log of family labor hours in nerica production

N=13 total hours

% of total hours

hours/ acre

land preparation 360 (69) 19,6 (4,2) 329 (79)planting 208 (38) 10,7 (1,3) 143 (21)weeding 265 (55) 11,2 (1,7) 210 (50)bird scaring 652 (102) 36,9 (4,2) 540 (112)harvesting 371 (64) 21,6 (3,3) 314 (64)total family labor 1783 (193) 100,0 1518 (211)

Data refer to the second season 2008. The numbers in parentheses indicate standard error means. Except for bird scaring, the data is

coherent with the findings by Kijima et al. (2007). The farmers in Hoima use more family labor in bird scaring than what the Kijima study

indicated (difference significant on the 1 per cent level).

time consuming: in absolute terms: 12-13 hrs/day for +1 month relative other crops: not needed for those

labor exhausting / inducing drudgery: you have to run up and down the field,

shouting, waving, clapping hands, throwing stones, using rattles and drums

mainly affecting women and children! some men have started to get engaged, but

their participation is not yet undifferentiated

weedingrespondents’ voices

diary study log of family labor hours in nerica production

N=13 total hours

% of total hours

hours/ acre

land preparation 360 (69) 19,6 (4,2) 329 (79)planting 208 (38) 10,7 (1,3) 143 (21)weeding 265 (55) 11,2 (1,7) 210 (50)bird scaring 652 (102) 36,9 (4,2) 540 (112)harvesting 371 (64) 21,6 (3,3) 314 (64)total family labor 1783 (193) 100,0 1518 (211)

Data refer to the second season 2008. The numbers in parentheses indicate standard error means. Except for bird scaring, the data is

coherent with the findings by Kijima et al. (2007)

seasonal family labor demands for selected crops in uganda

total family labor input

family labor input:

weedingsource of information

hours/ acre

hours/ ha

hours/ acre

hours/ ha

tobacco n.a. n.a. 251 620 our survey datanerica 1518 3749 210 519 our diary study databananas 158 391 59 144 Bagamba et al. 1998beans 404 998 111 274 Kijima et al. 2007maize 291 720 85 209 Kijima et al. 2007coffee 191 460 75 185 Bagamba et al. 1998g-nuts 116-160 287-395 64 158 Obuo et al. 2003

time consuming: relative other crops; (two or) three weedings

instead of one labor exhausting / inducing drudgery:

backbreaking work endure it thrice instead of once

hand and hoe weedings combined while usually only hoe weeding in other cropsmainly affecting women and children!

some men have started to get engaged, but their participation is not yet undifferentiated

synthesishousehold income gain from NERICAbut extreme labor burden for women (and

children)exacerbates their time poverty and drudgerymay prevent the formation of their social and

human capitalswomen not always in control of output and

proceeds

the suboptimal distribution of costs and benefits between men and women may

jeopardize future interventions and the chances to achieve sustainable results!

adoption is not an irreversible state – in some districts dropouts are already systematic!

interventions should therefore aim at both improving rice adoption/ production/

productivity and increasing the productive capacity of farming activities in which

women are engaged

policy implications