Does women’s engagement in sunflower commercialization empower them? Experience from Singida region, Tanzania
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Date
2022-05-26
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Taylor & Francis / Routledge
Abstract
Empowering women within sunflower value chains can create significant development opportunities for them and generate benefits for their families. This paper asks whether women’s
engagement in sunflower commercialization influences their levels of empowerment. The paper uses data from a 2018 study conducted by Agricultural Policy Research in Africa. A cross-sectional
research design was used, and data were collected using mixed
methods involving primary, qualitative, and quantitative methods
as well as secondary data from the literature. A total of 600 farm
household heads and 205 focus group participants (7–15) from 15
villages were selected for the study. Qualitative and quantitative
data were subjected to content and econometric analysis respectively, with the help of Microsoft Excel and Statistical Package for
the Social Sciences programs. The findings revealed that female
household heads tend to benefit less than men from sunflower
commercialization. Sunflower commercialization had a positive
but insignificant influence on women’s empowerment: the study
found that low levels of access to and control over productive
resources resulted in low agricultural productivity, which affects
empowerment levels. However, household commercialization
involving all crops did have a positive and significant impact on
the empowerment of women because non-cash crops were more
likely to be retained by women, even when commercialized. This
calls for policies that support and promote a diversified portfolio
of livelihood options for women farmers in Singida region.
Description
Journal of Gender, Technology and Development
Keywords
Women’s empowerment, Sunflower, Commercialization, Enterprise diversification
Citation
https://doi.org/10.1080/09718524.2022.2073014