Are Women Less Capable in Managing Crops? Insights from Cotton Production in Northern China

ABSTRACT

Women’s performance in agriculture matters, as women are becoming increasingly involved in agricultural production worldwide. Many studies have demonstrated that women-led farms perform less well as a result of less access to production factors, but no studies focus on how women perform without this constraint. This study fills that gap by analyzing the case of cotton cropping, which is known for its high labor requirements, high production inputs, and need for technical knowledge. Using primary data collected in northern China over the 2006–9 period, it uses the concept of “Daily Crop Management” (DCM) and identifies DCM farms managed by women whose husbands were engaged in off-farm activities on a long-term basis. The study finds that one-third of all farms were female-DCM farms, that these were smaller than those of their male counterparts but had equal access to production factors and achieved equal if not better technical and economic performances.

KEYWORDS:

• China
• gender
• agricultural feminization
• cotton
• performance

JEL Codes:

• D13
• J22
• O15

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The research has been conducted in the framework of the cooperation between CIRAD and Hebei Agricultural University since 2003. The authors are grateful to their respective organizations for their lasting institutional and financial support. Fieldwork was made possible through the execution of Project SZ124019, targeted at capturing farmers’ perspective about the economic benefit of transgenic cotton, funded by the Education Department of Hebei province, China. We particularly thank one of the reviewers for in-depth and constructive comments on our manuscript at its various versions, which greatly contributed to shaping a robust paper. Finally, we are indebted to Feminist Economics for editing to enhance the paper’s clarity to non-specialists.

Notes

1 In fact, we were told that women were paid at a lower rate than men, at least for certain cultivation operations that require more strength, such as digging irrigation furrows.

2 Supplemental Online Appendix tables can be accessed under the Supplemental tab on the publisher’s website.

3 This is the reason why we convert the ages to 2006 for the sons and daughters found in families in years 2007, 2008, and 2009, instead of converting the ages to 2009 for those found in earlier years and who might have left their families’ homes.

4 In China, it is correct to talk about “access” from the observation of actual use. Physical access has become easy for farmers, not only through markets at village or county levels, but even in the neighborhood, as some farmers might be input suppliers themselves by dedicating part of their house to this activity. The abundant nature of input supplies can lead to a mess, leading farmers to be confused about and even cheated regarding input quality. This has been reported for seeds (Wang and Fok 2014).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Guiyan Wang

Guiyan Wang holds a PhD in agronomy majoring in farming system and rural development. Her research focuses on smallholding farmers of the food production in North China Plain, and she also does research in agricultural extension, in particular with regard to technology transfer and the position of women. Since 2002, she has been cooperating with CIRAD, France and Wageningen University, The Netherlands on researching the impacts of biotech varieties in relation with the conditions of their use and sustainable water use in the cropping system in China.

Michel Fok

Michel Fok holds a Master’s degree in agronomy majoring in breeding and a PhD in agricultural economics. After ten years of working on promoting food crop production in the cotton production zones of Mali, he shifted to research on smallholding farmers and the dynamics of their farming systems, integrating in particular the position of women. Since 2002, he has been involved in projects assessing the impacts of biotech varieties in relation with the conditions of their use in South Africa, China, Brazil, and Burkina Faso. In May 2016, he was elected to chair the International Cotton Researchers Association.