Small and Productive: Kenyan Women and Crop Choice

Abstract

The question of gender differences in agricultural productivity has received particular attention in the development literature. The stylized fact that women produce less than men, while on average occupying smaller farms, presents a quandary as it is also a stylized fact that smaller farms have higher yields per unit of area. Using data from the 2006 Kenya Integrated Household Budget Survey, this study examines whether there is a gap in output per acre between men and women farmers in Kenya. Using ordinary and two-stage least-squares (OLS and 2SLS) analyses, it shows that when crop choice is taken into account, women are as productive as men. Specifically, the study finds that market-oriented crops are the source of differences. This suggests that further research into what determines crop choice is needed, in addition to policy that ensures that women have the same access as men to support for market-oriented crops.

Women and agricultural productivity: Reframing the Issues

“…Many of the studies above only consider one crop; one reason that women obtain lower values for their agricultural production overall may be due to the mix of crops that they produce. The analyses that consider crop choice find that even if men and women are equally productive in farming a given crop, women systematically produce crops of lower value and, thus, their overall profitability is lower (wa Githinji, Konstantinidis, & Barenberg, 2014;Peterman, Quisumbing, Behrman, & Nkonya, 2011).…”

Changing gender roles in agriculture? Evidence from 20 years of data in Ghana

“…Estimates of land held by women alone across 10 SSA countries range between 5% and 23% of total land owned, but can be misleading if not put into the perspective that an average of 39% of all plots are managed jointly by the couple (Doss et al., ). In Ghana and Mozambique, around 30% of all agricultural plots are under women's control (De Brauw, ; Doss, ), and 15% in Kenya (Gĩthĩnji et al., ). Overall, the estimated access to land for women in empirical studies is not nearly as low as the alarming figures often cited by organizations promoting gender targeted interventions (Doss et al., ).…”

“…This has already been shown in literature using older quantitative (Doss, ) and qualitative data (Carr, ) from Ghana. Recent evidence from Mozambique and Kenya, however, shows that female plot managers grow fewer crops and fewer cash crops (De Brauw, ; Gĩthĩnji et al., ).…”

“…This view is closely related to the belief that men are more likely to grow “cash crops” intended for sale, and women are more likely to grow ”food crops,” also called “subsistence crops,” for household consumption (e.g., Lastarria‐Cornhiel, ). Indeed, female plot managers in Mozambique and Kenya were found to grow fewer cash crops than male plot managers (De Brauw, ; Gĩthĩnji et al., ). Yet, several studies exist that contradict or nuance these claims.…”

In the law & on the land: finding the female farmer in Myanmar’s National Land Use Policy

“…Unlike the legal subject articulated in the Policy, women's own understandings of their access to land and agrarian identities were diverse and fluid; a 'female farmer,' was not a known quantity, but rather an asserted identity with emancipatory possibilities. Studies reporting a similar pattern of perception of women as workers or farm helpers in Kenya (Gĩthĩnji et al 2014), Latin America (Deere 1985 cited in Doss, Summerfield and Tsikata 2014) and globally (Agarwal 2014) suggest gendered constructions of women workers and female farmers are not unique to Myanmar, and that attention to production and maintenance of these identities could help to better understand dynamics of global agrarian change.…”