This paper looks at the challenges and shortcomings facing the sunflower sub-sector in Tanzania. It showcases the political economy of sunflower based on analyses of the performance of the sector over a 30-year period since the early 1990s, also studying the relations between the importers of edible oil, and the local actors of the sunflower value chain (farmers and processors). In addition, the authors discuss how disparities in accessing resources for production were established across gender, age, wealth status, which led to social differentiation. Following this, they examine how restrictions introduced as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic has affected activities and relations along the sunflower value chain.
Women face many barriers in accessing markets for their agricultural products. Collective action (CA) has been identified as a potential option to overcome such barriers and empower them. As such, they have been organising themselves in different forms of collective action through formal and informal organisations in order to raise the capital base required in production and to influence traditions, laws and regulations that hinder their active participation and benefits. This paper explored the relationship between women's participation in collective action initiatives and their empowerment. A cross-sectional research design was adopted, involving402 respondents in the survey. Descriptive statistical analysis was used to explore thetypes and benefits of collective actions. In the same vein, an index scales was used to gauge the extent of women empowerment and ordinal logistical regression was used to determine the relationship between participation in collective action and empowerment. Women in the study area were categorized into medium level of women empowerment (CEI=0.6033) while 45.8% were categorized into higher level of women empowerment and 13.6% and 16.4% were categorized into no and low empowerment levels respectively. Ordinal logistic regression model revealed that marital status, education level, access to credit and participation in any form of collective action were the most important factors for women empowerment (P<0.05). In view of this, it is concluded that women still face many barriers towards their empowermentand CA has potential to contribute to their empowerment and the government and none governmental organizations need to strengthen efforts in the identified CA initiatives. It is recommended that development actors work beyond increasing the resources at women"s immediate disposal and focus more on addressing unequal social relations and the "structures of opportunity" faced by women, including their sense of collective as well as individual agency.
Sunflower commercialisation in Singida Region, Tanzania has been successful. The successes include increased oilseed production, expanding processing capacity and declining rural poverty. Policies and efforts by development agents to promote sunflower commercialisation have increased the number of actors and service providers. Accumulation from sunflower and other enterprises, including livestock, have not only improved livelihoods, but also contributed to household economic diversity. This paper examines the interactions between activities involved in sunflower production and other livelihood strategies. For example, the paper examines local dynamics in policy and business contexts that have shaped livelihood options available and people’s choices of which option they undertake, and the corresponding outcomes, and reasons for such commercialisation trajectories. The study aims to inform local, regional, and national strategies, to pursue more inclusive and sustainable agriculture development, and widen options and pathways for men and women in Mkalama and Iramba districts of Singida Region.
There is a growing body of literature that argues that normally women derive little benefit from cash crops. Some of the barriers leading to women having less benefit from cash crop value chains include cultural norms and power differences in access to, and control over, resources among actors in value chains. It is also argued that women’s participation in different forms of collective action help women to increase benefits to them through their increased agency, hence enabling them to utilise existing and diverse options for their empowerment. This paper explores how women have benefited from their engagement in sunflower commercialisation and how culture has influenced changes in access to, and control over, resources, including land, for their empowerment.
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