Gender gaps in sorghum productivity: evidence from male- and female-managed plots in Uganda

ABSTRACT

Gender gaps in crop productivity can negatively affect rural socio-economic development of agrarian economies with serious implications for food and nutrition security. We assess productivity in men- and women-managed sorghum plots in Lira, Kumi, and Serere districts in Uganda. We find men-managed plots have higher productivity of 850.6 kgs/ha compared to women-managed plots (832.6 kgs/ha). An observed mean gender gap of 18 per cent due to structural advantages of men's plots (57 per cent), structural disadvantages of women's plots (33 per cent), and endowment (10 per cent) exists. Therefore, interventions aimed at promoting equitable access to institutional support services are paramount in reducing structural disadvantages against women farmers.

KEYWORDS:

• Gender yield gaps
• plot manager
• sorghum
• agricultural productivity
• Oaxaca–Blinder decomposition

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation [Grant No OPP1198373].

Notes on contributors

Philip Miriti

Philip Miriti is an Agricultural Economist and a research officer in the Sustainable Livestock Systems program (SLS), International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Nairobi, Kenya. He previously worked at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) on several projects such as Harnessing Opportunities for Productivity Enhancement (HOPE II) project and The Accelerated Varietal Improvement and Seed Delivery of Legumes and Cereals in Africa (AVISA) among other projects in Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Uganda. Miriti holds a Collaborative Master of Science in Agricultural and Applied Economics (CMAAE) and a bachelor's degree in Agribusiness Management from the University of Nairobi, Kenya.

David Jakinda Otieno

Dr. David Jakinda Otieno is an Agricultural Economist and Senior Lecturer in the Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Nairobi. His research interests include Consumer Preference Analysis, Agricultural Marketing/Commercialization, Analysis of Land Leasing, Economics of Climate Change, Livelihood Diversification, Value Chain Analysis, Agribusiness Development, Participatory Research Methods and Policy Analysis.

Evans Chimoita

Dr. Evans Chimoita is an Agricultural Extension and community development expert and a Lecturer in the Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Nairobi, Kenya. Evans is an Alumni of University of Nairobi where he earned PhD in Agricultural Information and Communication Management. He also holds Bsc. and Msc. degrees in Agricultural Education and Extension. He has published and supervised both undergraduates and postgraduate students. He has vast knowledge and consultancy experience in several community development and extension projects including world bank-based Kenya Climate Smart Agriculture Project (KCSAP), Agricultural Sector Development and Support Programme II, European Union Horizon FoodLAND project, TMEA-UNES cross border food safety manuals and guidelines development project among other consultancies. Chimoita has been mentored by ILRI-AgriFoSe 2030 and Kenya Policy Briefs Vision 2030 programs on research and development of policy briefs. He has passion for innovative software development on applications supporting socio-economic research and output, artificial intelligence innovations promoting transformation of agricultural value chains, new approaches in agricultural Extension enhancing community development such as participatory research methods, farmer research networks (FRN) and farmer field schools (FFS).

Edward Bikketi

Dr. Edward Bikketi is a Research Scientist & Consultant with over 17 years' experience gender and social research with comprehensive experience in designing and implementing social science and inclusivity research projects for sustainable development, using Mixed methods (Q-squared studies), participatory and social learning approaches that facilitate gender - responsive and transformative approaches for empowerment of youth and women in agricultural development. Currently work with Microsave Consulting, Leading Private Sector Development in Digitizing Agriculture.

Esther Njuguna

Esther Njuguna is a Senior Social Scientist working as a Gender Specialist at the International Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya. Her research interests include gender dynamics in livestock feeds and forages, women's participation in agricultural food systems, and the interface between gender and technology use that leads to the transformation of norms and empowerment of women and the youth. She has been working with men and women smallholder farmers since 1996. She is a graduate of Wageningen University and Research Centre (Agricultural Development - MSc) and the University of Nairobi-(Agricultural Development and Economics) – PhD.

Chris O. Ojiewo

Dr. Chris O. Ojiewo is a Strategic Partnerships and Seed Systems Lead at CIMMYT and Co-PI of a multidisciplinary multi-stakeholder, multidoor project on developing and delivering high yielding, nutrient dense, climate-smart, market-preferred varieties of grain legumes and dryland cereals. His research aims to enhance varietal turnover to mitigate losses from evolving climate patterns, especially in dry areas with the poorest of the poor farmers, while addressing pest and disease complexes, and enabling public-private partnerships for enhanced seed delivery. Core to his sense of purpose is: improving productivity and profitability for smallholder farmers; gender equity; youth empowerment; nutrition security; knowledge sharing; and solving the perpetual problem of food, nutrition and income insecurity of the less privileged in developing countries. He works to establish a robust system that ensures sustainable, timely availability of and access to quality seed of dryland cereals and grain legumes at affordable prices through the participation of multiple stakeholders along the seed value chain. He is committed to gender equity as a guiding principle, considering the critical role women play in choosing legume and cereal varieties and seed sources.