Effect of socio-cultural factors on gendered decision-making in the adoption of improved maize storage technologies

Abstract

Post-harvest loss is a historical challenge affecting some of agricultural products including maize which is a vital cereal crop in Tanzania. Enhanced knowledge and training on the use of metal silo and hermetic bags have been among the initiatives introduced to address post-harvest losses. This paper, therefore, assesses the effects of socio-cultural factors on the gendered decision-making process in the adoption of improved maize storage technologies. The paper looks at the role of bargaining power, task division and implications for enhancing the socio-economic status of farming households. The study was cross-sectional and used a multistage sampling method to select villages and respondents in each district. Data were collected through questionnaires, focus groups and key informant interviews. Logistic regression and descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data gathered. The findings revealed that awareness, farming experience, age and beliefs were the key socio-cultural factors that made men and women adopt better storage technologies. The findings further revealed that the division of tasks between gender-specific households was not statistically significant with respect to the adoption of improved maize storage technologies. These findings imply that there is no need for gender mainstreaming in task division and gender-sensitive technologies, even among gender-diverse farmers from diverse socio-cultural communities. Thus, awareness programs need to be expanded and adopt joint decisions through farming households so as to play a key role in balancing bargaining power.

Keywords:

• gendered decision
• socio-cultural factors
• storage technology
• task division
• adoption

PUBLIC INTEREST STATEMENT

Post-harvest loss is a historical challenge affecting many agricultural products including maize which is a vital cereal crop in Tanzania. Tailor-made training and demonstrations on the use of hermetic bags, metal silos, and insect pest management strategies to improve storage capacity were undertaken for farmers. The training was conducted under the framework of the Grain Postharvest Loss Prevention (GPLP) project. Despite these efforts, gender-based relations was reported have a role regarding decisions on the adoption of the improved maize storage technologies. Scholars also revealed that cultural norms command gender roles, distribute rights and privileges, and manage the ideal post-harvest technology. This cross-sectional study made an in-depth assessment of how socio-cultural gendered decision-making process occurs among households that participated in the training on the adoption of improved maize storage technologies. The study areas were Ushetu and Mbulu Districts in Shinyanga and Manyara regions, two culturally diversified districts in Tanzania.

Acknowledgements

This work was supported in part by HELVETAS Swiss Interco-operation in collaboration with the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) within the framework of the Grain Postharvest Loss Prevention (GPLP) project. The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial and technical support. We appreciate all the participants as well as the anonymous reviewers. The views expressed are those of the authors and cannot be considered to state the official position of the donors and partners.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The study was approved by the University of Dodoma Research and Publication Ethical Committee. Informed consent was obtained from all respondents before they were enrolled to participate in the study. All required protocols were observed and followed given country-level guidelines and regulations.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the HELVETAS through GPLP Project number 7F07726.

Notes on contributors

Lutengano Mwinuka

Lutengano Mwinuka is an Agricultural Trade Economist who works at the Department of Economics, The University of Dodoma (UDOM) in Tanzania. He has also worked with numerous research institutions within and outside Tanzania at different capacities. He has been a Visiting Researcher at the Department of Agricultural Economics, Texas A&M University (TAMU). Currently, Mwinuka is the Visiting Researcher at Roskilde University (RUC) under Privately Managed Cash Transfers in Africa (CASH-IN) research program. Mwinuka has long experience in teaching and his areas of research interests include value-chain upgrading, the economics of new technology, industrial economics, cost-effectiveness, and political settlement. Erasto Osias Hyera is an Academician and Economist. He holds a Master of Arts in Economics from UDOM and a Bachelor of Arts with Education from the University of Dar es Salaam. Erasto and Lutengano worked together through Grain Postharvest Loss Prevention (GPLP) project.