The importance of gender roles and relations in rural agricultural technology development: a case study on solar fruit drying in Mozambique

Abstract

Many agricultural technology interventions that aim to improve farmers’ livelihoods focus on households as the unit of analysis and ignore gender roles that entail different benefits and costs for different household members. Agricultural projects have shown limited success where gender roles and relations were ignored and thus more gender sensitive research is needed in agricultural technology development to ensure social acceptance. In this study, we address this need by investigating the importance of gender roles and relations in the case of solar fruit drying in Mozambique. We apply a variety of gender sensitive participatory methods that enable farmers to actively take part in the technology development process. First results indicate that the costs and benefits of solar fruit drying are not shared equally between genders. Women have much less time available for using the solar fruit dryer. The data also indicate that certain steps in the solar fruit drying process are clearly gender divided. We finally discuss potential mechanisms that can be applied in agricultural technology projects that can create awareness of the risk to reproduce traditional gender roles and unequal relations in the development process of new agricultural technologies.

Keywords:

• Gender roles
• gender relations
• technology
• development
• solar fruit drying
• Mozambique

Notes

Acknowledgements

We wish to thank the Mozambican farmers for their hospitality and for sharing their experiences and knowledge with us. We also thank three anonymous reviewers for their constructive feedback on an earlier version of this article. In addition, we would like to thank Formas (a Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning) for financing this project.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 Approximately double compared to Berlin and Copenhagen in Europe with 1000 kWh/m²/year. This was calculated with the software Meteonorm (www.meteonorm.com).

2 Roasted cassava root flour, which is a common meal in many African countries.

3 The number of men and women was not equally divided. However, this study does not aim towards a statistical analysis and general representation but rather aims to capture the individual perceptions of the farmers involved in both associations where the solar dryer is planned to be installed.

4 Children were never placed first but second and third in the different tasks by women and men. The figures reflect these values.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by The Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning [grant number 2015-633].

Notes on contributors

Pia Piroschka Otte

Pia Piroschka Otte is a senior researcher at Ruralis - Institute for Rural and Regional Research. Her research focuses on energy transitions and climate change in cross-cultural contexts.

Lucas Daniel Tivana

Lucas Daniel Tivana, PhD in food engineering, is a lecturer and researcher at Eduardo Mondlane University, Mozambique. His research is focused on developing post-harvest technologies suitable to small-holder farmers in Sub Saharan Africa.

Randi Phinney

Randi Phinney is a PhD candidate at Lund University. Her research is focused on developing robust and sustainable food preservation technologies for tropical countries like Mozambique.

Ricardo Bernardo

Ricardo Bernardo is a lecturer at Lund University within the field of solar energy technology and energy efficient buildings.

Henrik Davidsson

Henrik Davidsson is an assistant lecturer at Lund University within the field of solar energy technology and energy efficient buildings.