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new seeds and women’s welfare
johanna bergman lodindept of human geography lund university sweden
the case of nerica upland rice and gendered labor dynamics in
hoima district, ugandairrc28, hanoi, november 9, 2010
acknowledgement
prof. Magnus JirströmDept of Human Geography
Lund University, Sweden
ms. Milly Mugenyi
Council for Economic Empowerment for Women of Africa (CEEWA-U), Kampala,
Uganda
nerica (new rice for africa) in uganda
rice is becoming an important food!NERICA-4, a new high-yielding and stress
tolerant upland rice variety, introduced in 2002high-level commitment by top leadership and
development partnersest. +50,000ha + impressive production
performance (yields x2 upland rice average)one of the major NERICA producers in the world
assessments indicating its positive effects on household income poverty
our study
2008-2009, main focus: Hoima Districtmixed methods research:
survey of 302 NERICA growers (smallholders) 2008 diary study to record precise family
labor input (13 households) more than 50 focus group interviews
key informant interviews with various rice value chain stakeholders
additional interviews in Kampala and in Luwero and Wakiso districts
our focus
rich evidence from other rice-based interventions of disappointing adoption
dynamics relating to labor
critical to establish at what and whose cost agriculture is made more productive
through the promotion of rice HYVs intensification processes are social and
gendered
labor intensity of nericamost frequently raised and returned-to topic
during interviews and discussions
farmers’ core production concern and constraint
two dimensions of labor intensity: time consumption
labor exhaustion/drudgery
bird scaring and weeding
the two most time consuming tasks in NERICA production
62% of survey respondents identified bird scaring as most time consuming
24% identified weeding as most time consuming
these tasks are mainly carried out by women (and children) due to prevailing gendered
divisions of labor!according to women, NERICA is also the most
time consuming and labor exhausting crop they grow
bird scaringre
spo
nde
nts’ voic
es
red-billed quelea”the greatest biological limit to african cereal
production” board on science and technology for international
development, national research council, u.k. (1996). lost crops of africa: volume 1: grains; p. 273
photos: www.biodiversityexplorer.org; www.mangoverde.com
time consuming: in absolute terms: 12-13 hrs/day for +1 month;
eq. +1/3 of total labor input in relative terms: not needed for other crops
labor exhausting / inducing drudgery: you have to run up and down the field,
shouting, waving, clapping hands, throwing stones, using rattles and drums
mainly affecting women and children! some men have started to get engaged, but
their participation is not yet equal
weedingre
spo
nde
nts’ voic
es
time consuming: not in absolute terms; ≈10% of total invested labor
BUT: in relative terms: (two or) three weedings
instead of one; NERICA is one of the most weeding intensive crops
crop performance & weed prevalenceif farmers weed thrice instead of once, they can
realize almost 2.5 times as high nerica yieldsNaCCRI (cereals program, the national crops resources research institute).
2009. “upland rice cultivation guide”. national agricultural research organization (NARO) and japan international cooperation agency (JICA).
labor exhausting / inducing drudgery: backbreaking work
endure it thrice instead of once hand and hoe weedings combined while
usually only hoe weeding in other crops
mainly affecting women and children! some men have started to get engaged, but
their participation is not yet equal
synthesishousehold income gain
from NERICAbut extreme labor burden
for women (and children)exacerbates their time
poverty and drudgerymay prevent the formation
of their social and human capitals
the suboptimal distribution of costs and benefits between men and women may
jeopardize future interventions and the chances to achieve sustainable results!
adoption is not an irreversible state – in some districts dropouts are already systematic!
interventions should therefore aim at both improving rice adoption/ production/
productivity and increasing the productive capacity of farming activities in which
women are engaged
policy implications
webale muno!
thank you!