A feminist political ecology of agricultural mechanization and evolving gendered on-farm labor dynamics in northern Ghana

Responsible Agricultural Mechanization Innovation for the Sustainable Development of Nepal’s Hillside Farming System

“…However, as large-scale mechanization is becoming possible in some areas with increasing road connectivity on the hillside regions, this pathway of innovation, in addition to not being suitable for hillside farms, can reinforce traditional gender roles and cultural taboos against women operating equipment as Kansanga et al [10] discussed in their recent study. This can increase women's dependency on the few men in the countryside who are available to operate modern machinery [38].…”

“…Smart technologies are also being promoted as an integral part of Sustainable Intensification (SI) of agriculture even though SI aims to increase the agricultural productivity with less environmental damage and more social benefits [9]. The SI approach is widely promoted in south Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa with the aim to support smallholder family farms [10,11], however it also encourages the use of advanced technologies and in larger areas. Before such new technologies are considered, however, policymakers in countries, such as Nepal where hillside agriculture is widely practiced, should address the flatland bias of past and current technology transfer regimes and seek non-incumbent strategies for responsible innovation involving agricultural mechanization that supports the sustainable development of hillside farming systems.…”

How local gender norms and intra-household dynamics shape women’s demand for laborsaving technologies: insights from maize-based livelihoods in Ethiopia and Kenya

“…In a study in Bangladesh, Theis et al (2019) show how women's ability to engage with opportunities for mechanized rice and wheat reaper-harvesters, was limited by a normative taboo on women operating machines, by restrictive norms regarding women's physical mobility and social interactions, and by normative expectations of women's deference to male authority. In their study of agricultural mechanization and gendered labor dynamics in Northern Ghana, Kansanga et al (2019) explain how farmwomen's honor and prestige are tied to normative expectations of hard work. From a study in East Africa, Njuki et al (2014) report that women's use of treadle pumps was considered inappropriate, as it exposed the outline of operating women's thighs (Quisumbing & Pandolfelli, 2010).…”

“…Social norms also tend to become embedded in the ways institutions function at different levels. In their study from Northern Ghana, for instance, Kansanga et al (2019) conclude that smallholder mechanization interventions feed into an agricultural system entirely underpinned by longstanding unequal gendered power relations, where laborsaving mechanization is framed as a masculine domain with little opportunity for women to engage and benefit. To be sure, in agricultural research and development, the term 'farmer' is widely associated with men and this translates to extension systems systematically disadvantaging female farmers (Farnworth & Colverson, 2015).…”

“…Research indicates that women's interests and labor time are often valued less than men's (Croppenstedt et al, 2013;Doss, 2001;Fischer et al, 2018;Kansanga et al, 2019). Similarly, Schwab and Hodjo (2018) found that: 'the higher the relative proportion of female labor used in a given activity, the lower the household willingness to pay for a hired service to replace the labor in that activity' (p. 4).…”