Gender implications of agricultural commercialization in Africa: Evidence from farm households in Ethiopia and Nigeria

Agricultural commercialization is often pursued as an important driver of agricultural transformation in low-income countries. However, the implications it can have on gendered outcomes are less understood. While agricultural commercialization creates opportunities to increase income, this may come...

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Main Authors: Berhane, Guush, Abay, Mehari Hiluf, Seymour, Greg
Format: Artículo preliminar
Language:Inglés
Published: International Food Policy Research Institute 2022
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/140848
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author Berhane, Guush
Abay, Mehari Hiluf
Seymour, Greg
author_browse Abay, Mehari Hiluf
Berhane, Guush
Seymour, Greg
author_facet Berhane, Guush
Abay, Mehari Hiluf
Seymour, Greg
author_sort Berhane, Guush
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Agricultural commercialization is often pursued as an important driver of agricultural transformation in low-income countries. However, the implications it can have on gendered outcomes are less understood. While agricultural commercialization creates opportunities to increase income, this may come at the expense of change in women’s decision-making agency and control over resources. Understanding the interactions between agricultural commercialization and gender outcomes is thus critical for policymakers aspiring to achieve agricultural transformation while promoting gender equity and the evidence on the links between the two in the context of Africa is scarce and mixed. We use three rounds of Ethiopia’s and Nigeria’s LSMS-ISA panel data to understand the implications of agricultural commercialization to gendered decision-making on crop harvest use, marketing, revenue control, asset ownership, and intrahousehold budget allocation. Results indicate commercialization is associated with decreases in women’s participation in decision-making related to use of harvest, crop marketing, and control over revenue in Ethiopia, but only on harvest use and control over revenue in Nigeria. The association with land ownership is mixed: positive in Ethiopia but negative in Nigeria. Moreover, commercialization is associated with decreases in women’s share of farm-workload but with increases in share of hired labor in Ethiopia. In Ethiopia we also find women’s control over revenue is positively associated with increases in per capita consumption expenditures and dietary diversity, but men’s control is negatively associated with increases in the share of expenditure on children’s shoes and clothes. In Nigeria, women’s control is positively associated with increases in the share of expenditure on women’s shoes and clothes, food gap, and dietary diversity. In sum, we find suggestive evidence that commercialization may further marginalize women’s decision-making agency in Ethiopia and Nigeria. However, conditional on women’s control over proceeds, commercialization tends to improve women’s as well as other members’ welfare. We provide some policy recommendations and directions for future research.
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spelling CGSpace1408482025-12-02T21:02:52Z Gender implications of agricultural commercialization in Africa: Evidence from farm households in Ethiopia and Nigeria Berhane, Guush Abay, Mehari Hiluf Seymour, Greg income gender income control farmers households agriculture commercialization women agricultural trade Agricultural commercialization is often pursued as an important driver of agricultural transformation in low-income countries. However, the implications it can have on gendered outcomes are less understood. While agricultural commercialization creates opportunities to increase income, this may come at the expense of change in women’s decision-making agency and control over resources. Understanding the interactions between agricultural commercialization and gender outcomes is thus critical for policymakers aspiring to achieve agricultural transformation while promoting gender equity and the evidence on the links between the two in the context of Africa is scarce and mixed. We use three rounds of Ethiopia’s and Nigeria’s LSMS-ISA panel data to understand the implications of agricultural commercialization to gendered decision-making on crop harvest use, marketing, revenue control, asset ownership, and intrahousehold budget allocation. Results indicate commercialization is associated with decreases in women’s participation in decision-making related to use of harvest, crop marketing, and control over revenue in Ethiopia, but only on harvest use and control over revenue in Nigeria. The association with land ownership is mixed: positive in Ethiopia but negative in Nigeria. Moreover, commercialization is associated with decreases in women’s share of farm-workload but with increases in share of hired labor in Ethiopia. In Ethiopia we also find women’s control over revenue is positively associated with increases in per capita consumption expenditures and dietary diversity, but men’s control is negatively associated with increases in the share of expenditure on children’s shoes and clothes. In Nigeria, women’s control is positively associated with increases in the share of expenditure on women’s shoes and clothes, food gap, and dietary diversity. In sum, we find suggestive evidence that commercialization may further marginalize women’s decision-making agency in Ethiopia and Nigeria. However, conditional on women’s control over proceeds, commercialization tends to improve women’s as well as other members’ welfare. We provide some policy recommendations and directions for future research. 2022-12-22 2024-04-12T13:36:45Z 2024-04-12T13:36:45Z Working Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/140848 en Open Access application/pdf International Food Policy Research Institute Berhane, Guush; Abay, Mehari Hiluf; and Seymour, Greg. 2022. Gender implications of agricultural commercialization in Africa: Evidence from farm households in Ethiopia and Nigeria. IFPRI Discussion Paper 2151. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.136492.
spellingShingle income
gender
income control
farmers
households
agriculture
commercialization
women
agricultural trade
Berhane, Guush
Abay, Mehari Hiluf
Seymour, Greg
Gender implications of agricultural commercialization in Africa: Evidence from farm households in Ethiopia and Nigeria
title Gender implications of agricultural commercialization in Africa: Evidence from farm households in Ethiopia and Nigeria
title_full Gender implications of agricultural commercialization in Africa: Evidence from farm households in Ethiopia and Nigeria
title_fullStr Gender implications of agricultural commercialization in Africa: Evidence from farm households in Ethiopia and Nigeria
title_full_unstemmed Gender implications of agricultural commercialization in Africa: Evidence from farm households in Ethiopia and Nigeria
title_short Gender implications of agricultural commercialization in Africa: Evidence from farm households in Ethiopia and Nigeria
title_sort gender implications of agricultural commercialization in africa evidence from farm households in ethiopia and nigeria
topic income
gender
income control
farmers
households
agriculture
commercialization
women
agricultural trade
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/140848
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AT seymourgreg genderimplicationsofagriculturalcommercializationinafricaevidencefromfarmhouseholdsinethiopiaandnigeria