Developing gender-transformative innovation packages for sustainable intensification: the case of maize leaf stripping in northern Ghana

Figures & data

Table 1. SIAF framework: examples of indicators related to each domain (Musumba et al., 2017a).

Environment	Productivity	Human domain	Social domain	Economic domain
Vegetative cover Plant biodiversity Erosion Soil chemical quality	Crop productivity Animal productivity Input use efficiency Yield gap	Nutrition Food security Human health Capacity to experiment	Gender equity Equity (generally) Social cohesion Collective action	Profitability Income diversification Returns to land, labor and inputs Labor requirement

Figure 1. Conceptual framework.

Table 2. Sample description (n = 60).

		Men	Women	Total
Region	Northern	25 (64%)	3 (14%)	28 (47%)
	Upper West	7 (18%)	9 (43%)	16 (27%)
	Upper East	7 (18%)	9 (43%)	16 (27%)
Religion	Muslim	23 (59%)	3 (14%)	26 (43%)
	Christian	9 (23%)	16 (76%)	25 (42%)
	Traditional	7 (18%)	2 (10%)	9 (15%)
Marital status	Married	38 (97%)	14 (67%)	52 (87%)
	Divorced	1 (3%)	0 (0%)	1 (2%)
	Widowed	0 (0%)	7 (33%)	7 (12%)
Seasons participated	One season	5 (13%)	2 (10%)	7 (12%)
	Two seasons	34 (87%)	19 (90%)	53 (88%)

Table 3. Livestock ownership.

	Men (n = 39)	Women (n = 21)	Total (n = 60)
Local cows	12 (31%)	2 (10%)	14 (23%)
Draught cattle	2 (5%)	0 (0%)	2 (3%)
Sheep	34 (87%)	9 (43%)	43 (72%)
Goats	32 (82%)	16 (76%)	48 (80%)
Pigs	6 (15%)	9 (43%)	15 (25%)

Table 4. Overview: SIAF domains and aspects dealt with in the study.

Environment	Productivity	Human domain	Social domain	Economic domain
Feed components Soil management	Livestock productivity Maize productivity	Food utilization Food availability Capacity to experiment	Collective action Natural resource conflicts	Resource access, ownership and decision making Labor relations, roles and burdens Perceived profitability

Table 5. Activity profile for maize cultivation and livestock feeding activities (MHHs only).

	Household labor
	Strong involvement	Weak involvement	Hired labor
Maize cultivation
Dibbling (creating holes)	Men	Other household members
Seeding	Women	Other household members	Women, girls
Fertilization	All household members
Weeding	Men, boys	Women, girls	Men, boys
Harvesting: breaking cobs	Women, men		Women
Harvesting: gathering cobs	Boys, girls	Women	Women
Livestock feeding
Cutting pasture	Boys	Men
Stripping maize leaves	Men	Boys, women
Herding	Boys	Men
Feeding (in stalls, pens)	Women, men	Boys
Watering (in stalls, pens)	Women	Other household members

Collated from survey data, participatory activity profiles, focus group transcriptions.

Figure 2. Gender norms and tangible inequalities.

Table 6. Recommendations for additional bundle components and gender integration.

Bundle performance, immediate interaction	Enabling or restricting context	Recommended additional components in bundle	Gender equity consideration
Increased feed variety and supplementation through fresh maize leaves	+ Maize farms close to homestead − Lack of adequate transport	Improvement of transport facilities (e.g., donkey carts, bicycles) Formation of transport groups Improvement of animal housing, enclosures	Ensure women’s access to and ownership of transport facilities as well as meaningful participation in groups
Better manure collection through stall feeding	+ Enclosed feeding sites for collection  + Short distances between collection sites and farms		Ensure women’s access to manure for individual plots and ownership of animal by-products
Increased maize residue productivity (for off-season use)	− Lack of adequate transport, drying and storage facilities − Alternative use of maize stalks as firewood	Improvement of drying and storage facilities by using locally available low-cost materials Improvement of transport facilities (see above)	Explore potentially gendered preferences of residue use (feed versus firewood) and ensure consideration of women’s needs
Risk of lower maize grain productivity due to wrong application	− High involvement of boys in feed collection − Training of one adult per intervention household only	Training of several household members and wider community to increase labor flexibility and capacity for hired labor Development of ToT model for community-organized trainings	Ensure equitable participation of women and young people
Restricted seasonal window for stripping	− Coincidence with other time-bound agricultural activities − Delegation to children or hired laborers restricted
Increased grain productivity if fertilizer and improved seeds are used	+ Government fertilizer subsidy program − Restricted affordability of inputs − Low market orientation of maize production	Experimentation with alternative fertilizers (e.g., compost in combination with increased volumes of manure collected)	Ensure women’s access to manure for individual plots and ownership of animal by-products
Increased grain productivity if good agricultural practices are used; increased labor requirements	+ Collective action, labor exchange − Erratic rainfall patterns restrict collective action − Necessity to compensate labor groups − Group conflicts	Better dissemination of climate information to enable timely collective action Development of innovative group constitutions	Ensure gender-responsive selection of dissemination channels and co-develop group constitutions
Animals weight gains, better health	+ Animal weight influences market prices − Generally low livestock profitability	Improvement of farmers’ marketing skills	Ensure women’s market participation and income control

Musumba, M., Grabowski, P., Palm, C., & Snapp, S. (2017a). Guide for the sustainable intensification assessment framework. USAID: Feed the Future. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-016-0654-6

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