Challenges to Sustaining University-Community Partnerships in War-Torn, Northern Uganda: Investigating Resistance, Negative Stereotyping, and Gender Bias in Agricultural Students’ Attachments

Abstract

Gulu Town (Gulu) served as a site of refuge for many during northern Uganda’s armed conflict that spanned from 1986 to 2006. Since then, Gulu transitioned into a region with sprawling slums and deteriorating social conditions. To combat these trends, the Faculty of Agriculture and Environment (FAE) at Gulu University adopted a development approach emphasizing community transformation. The FAE conceptualizes community transformation as the building of Gulu community members’ capacity to transition from a subsistence agrarian lifestyle to one more economically sustainable. One mechanism the FAE uses to enact their commitment to community transformation are university-community partnerships established to facilitate agricultural student attachments, or internships. Because of the myriad ways university-community partnerships are manifested, we examined the challenges to sustaining such partnerships in this post-conflict region. When interpreting findings through Foucauldian (1972) discourse theory, three themes emerged: (a) resistance, (b) reinforcement of stereotypes, and (c) gender bias. Moving forward, we recommend training opportunities be developed to promote more collaborative, contextually grounded strategies to overcome the challenges and enhance the partnerships such that all participants benefit.

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“…Perhaps these views are a product of sociohistorical practices that functioned to uphold traditional gender disparities (Desautels et al, 1998;Steinberg, 2014). To this point, previous work on women in agriculture has demonstrated that gendered challenges exist in Latin America (Niewoehner-Green et al, 2019) as well as Africa (Roberts & Edwards, 2017). However, in Thailand, documentation of such issues has been insufficient.…”

“…We also recommend that a targeted extension and educational campaign be designed to introduce women to (a) potential career opportunities in the agricultural industry, (b) networking opportunities with other women in their area, (c) new technological advancements, and (d) technical and economic education. Introducing Thai women to new and diverse career opportunities in the agricultural industry might stoke a greater sense of independence and agency (Roberts & Edwards, 2017). Additionally, encouraging and facilitating networking opportunities with other women in the agricultural industry might lead to an exchange of ideas as well as collaborative opportunities that could be used to foster a greater sense of collective agency (Meinzen-Dick et al, 2019).…”

“…Incorporating women empowerment into extension programming has been advanced as a practice that can have a positive impact on agricultural development (Lecoutere et al, 2019;Niewoehner-Green et al, 2019;Roberts & Edwards, 2017). In particular, Lecoutere et al (2019) demonstrated that agricultural extension efforts targeting women could improve: (1) agricultural knowledge, (2) decision-making, and (3) the adoption of positive agricultural practices.…”

“…Further, Lecoutere et al (2019) reported that when women provided information to other women, decision-making, and the adoption of recommended agricultural practices increased. Accordingly, existing literature has demonstrated that the goal of women empowerment through extension can be achieved in a variety of ways (Lecoutere et al, 2019;Niewoehner-Green et al, 2019;Roberts & Edwards, 2017). However, more work is needed to understand how the roles women assume in the agricultural system in developing economies, especially in Thailand, may influence extension outcomes and related programming.…”

Modern Women and Traditional Gender Stereotypes: An Examination of the Roles Women Assume in Thailand’s Agricultural System

“…Incorporating women empowerment into extension programming has been advanced as a practice that can have a positive impact on agricultural development (Lecoutere et al, 2019;Niewoehner-Green et al, 2019;Roberts & Edwards, 2017). In particular, Lecoutere et al (2019) demonstrated that agricultural extension efforts targeting women could improve: (1) agricultural knowledge, (2) decision-making, and (3) the adoption of positive agricultural practices.…”