Gender equity in contract farming in Eastern Africa

东非订单农业中的性别平等

• 批准号: ES/K011693/1
• 负责人: Martin Prowse
• 金额: $ 12.44万
• 依托单位: University of Copenhagen
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2013 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=ES%2FK011693%2F1
• 关键词: Gender; equity; contract; farming; Eastern

Contract farming is growing rapidly in Eastern Africa. This research project will evaluate innovations in contract farming operations designed to increase the benefits wives accrue from the contract. It also evaluates whether this improves the relationship between the household and the firm. It integrates a gender dimension into an otherwise gender-blind area of practice and research. Contract farming is a form of vertical integration within agricultural commodity chains such that a firm has greater control over the production process and final product. Changes in the demand for and supply of agricultural products have increased the popularity of this form of vertical integration in many low-income countries and it is attracting considerable policy and academic attention. While academic work in the 1980s and 1990s offered a mixed assessment of the extent to which contract farming engaged with and benefited smallholders, recent literature offers a much more positive interpretation of smallholder participation. That said, there are still considerable risks for both firms and farms such that contracting operations frequently collapse. For firms, there is a large risk of smallholders side-marketing both inputs and produce. There are also numerous risks for small-scale producers. Two risks are especially important for smallholders: contracting can contribute to a loss of autonomy and control over farm enterprises and a form of dependency on the contracting firm; and, second, the intra-household distribution of labour/income can be altered to the detriment of women's interests.This research project focuses on the last of these risks through evaluating innovations that seek to both increase wives' benefits and to improve the relationships between the firm and the household. This is through adding gender-specific elements to the contract to increase the 'self-enforcement range'. By this we mean that by adding these extra investments within the contract we reduce the likelihood of either party breaking the deal due to a change in market or contextual conditions. The overarching research question is: To what extent and how do gender-specific clauses within contracts improve outcomes for both farms and firms?The subsidiary research questions are:To what extent and how do gender-specific clauses improve the benefits wives accrue from contract farming operations?To what extent and how do such clauses influence farm production?And to what extent and how do such clauses improve the stability and longevity of contract farming relationships?In Malawi, we evaluate the inclusion of a contract for wives to grow and market groundnuts (a conventional crop for women to produce) alongside tobacco to examine effects on yields, prices and, most importantly, the intra-household distribution of labour/income. We do this by combining a randomized design - where members and clubs are randomly assigned the innovation - with a series of qualitative research methods including life history interviews and focus group discussions. The attrition rate (in other words, the number of households dropping from the scheme) will assess whether the farm/firm relationship has changed. In Tanzania, we utilise the same methodology and sequence of research methods but the precise contractual innovation will be determined during the first two months of the project. In the second phase of research, we extend the project to examine gender-specific innovations in palm oil in Ghana and tobacco in Zimbabwe.

订单农业在东非迅速发展。这一研究项目将评估旨在增加妻子从合同中获得的利益的合同农业业务的创新。它还评估这是否改善了家庭与企业之间的关系。它将性别层面纳入一个在其他方面无视性别的实践和研究领域。代耕是农业商品链中的一种纵向一体化形式，使企业对生产过程和最终产品有更大的控制权。农产品供求的变化使这种形式的纵向一体化在许多低收入国家越来越受欢迎，并引起了政策和学术界的极大关注。虽然1980年代和1990年代的学术工作对合同农业在多大程度上吸引了小农并使小农受益的问题作出了好坏参半的评估，但最近的文献对小农的参与作出了积极得多的解释。尽管如此，公司和农场仍然存在相当大的风险，承包业务经常崩溃。对企业来说，小农在投入和产品方面进行边销的风险很大。小规模生产者也面临许多风险。对小农户来说，有两个风险特别重要：承包可能导致失去对农业企业的自主权和控制权，并形成对承包公司的依赖;第二，家庭内部劳动力分配/本研究项目的重点是最后一种风险，通过评估旨在增加妻子的福利并改善妇女的生活质量的创新，公司和家庭之间的关系。这是通过在合同中增加针对性别的内容来增加"自我执行范围"。我们的意思是，通过在合同中增加这些额外的投资，我们减少了任何一方由于市场或环境条件的变化而破坏交易的可能性。首要的研究问题是：在何种程度上，以及如何在合同中的性别特定的条款改善农场和公司的结果？辅助研究问题是：针对性别的条款在多大程度上以及如何改善妻子从合同农业经营中获得的利益？这些条款在多大程度上以及如何影响农业生产？这些条款在多大程度上以及如何改善合同农业关系的稳定性和持久性？在马拉维，我们评估了将妻子种植和销售花生（妇女生产的传统作物）的合同与烟草一起纳入的情况，以审查对产量、价格以及最重要的家庭内劳动/收入分配的影响。我们通过将随机设计（成员和俱乐部被随机分配创新）与一系列定性研究方法（包括生活史访谈和焦点小组讨论）相结合来做到这一点。自然减员率（换句话说，从计划中退出的家庭数量）将评估农场/公司关系是否发生了变化。在坦桑尼亚，我们使用相同的方法和研究方法的顺序，但确切的合同创新将在项目的前两个月确定。在研究的第二阶段，我们将该项目扩展到研究加纳棕榈油和津巴布韦烟草的性别创新。

项目成果

Tobacco Contract Farming, Crop Diversification and Household Relations in the Central Region of Malawi

马拉维中部地区的烟草合同农业、作物多样化和家庭关系

• DOI: 10.1080/03057070.2022.2043653
• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: Journal of Southern African Studies
• 影响因子: 0.5
• 作者: Prowse M

Tobacco Farming and Agrarian Change in Contemporary Southern Africa - An Introduction

当代南部非洲的烟草种植和土地变化 - 简介

• DOI: 10.1080/03057070.2022.2096773
• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: Journal of Southern African Studies
• 影响因子: 0.5
• 作者: Prowse M

Smallholders' demand for and access to private-sector extension services: A case study of contracted cotton producers in northern Tanzania

小农对私营部门推广服务的需求和获取：坦桑尼亚北部合同棉花生产商的案例研究

• DOI: 10.1111/joac.12262
• 发表时间: 2018
• 期刊: Journal of Agrarian Change
• 影响因子: 2.5
• 作者: Jensen P