Gender and conservation agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review

Abstract

Conservation agriculture (CA) involves the practice of concurrent minimum tillage, permanent soil cover using crop residue, and crop rotation. Evidence indicates that CA increases agricultural productivity, reduces farming labour requirements, and improves soil quality. While CA is practised in several African contexts, little is known about its interaction with gender. This review synthesized knowledge on the interplay of gender and CA in sub-Saharan Africa. The review highlighted the relative neglect of gender issues in research on CA in SSA. Existing research was limited both in quantity and to a few countries in the region. There was also little critical focus on gender as a social phenomenon: a few of the studies conceptualized gender in terms of the socially constructed roles of men and women while the majority framed it in terms of the sexual categories of male and female. Compared to men, and due largely to gendered barriers, including lack of access to land; machinery; inputs; extension services; and credit facilities, women farmers adopted CA less and disadopted it more. CA increased women's incomes, labour involvement, household food security, as well as risks for land and crop dispossession by men when farming becomes lucrative. It also increased workloads, employment opportunities and health risks for women. CA positively altered gender relations, boosting women's participation in agricultural decision-making at the household level. Deliberately enlisting women as beneficiaries; working with men to advance their understanding of women's needs in agriculture; and offering agricultural inputs directly to women are some strategies that enhanced women's participation in CA. Gaps in current research on gender and CA include: critical focus on and understanding of gender as a social construct in relation to CA; the long-term impacts on CA for gender relations, incomes for men and women, and women's empowerment; the sustainability of strategies for supporting gendered participation in CA; and the dynamics of gendered access to local farmland markets for CA.

Farmer Preparedness for Building Resilient Agri-Food Systems: Lessons From the 2015/2016 El Niño Drought in Malawi

“…Evidence from this study illustrates that it is wealthier, male farmers who are more likely to practice CA, which is promoted through NGOs, extension services and in government policy. This gender gap in relation to the adoption of CA is welldocumented across sub-Saharan Africa (Wekesah et al, 2019).…”

“…Given that women's participation within CA can increase their income and household food security (Wekesah et al, 2019) this bias against the involvement of female farmers in new technologies such as CA should be addressed as a priority and would also help to address problems of CA disadoption (Chinseu et al, 2019). Targeting interventions at female farmers, and particularly those who are poorer, would address the current imbalance, thereby increasing their future capacity to invest in further agricultural interventions.…”

“…It is also important that interventions take a holistic approach to promoting agricultural technologies alongside investment in health and education services locally. There is evidence not only that factors at household level such as poor health constrain women's ability to participate (Jew et al, 2020), but that successful farming strategies can put women at risk of being dispossessed of land by men (Wekesah et al, 2019). The complexity of gender relations illustrates that changes are needed at policy level and require nuanced development, in addition to greater attention to a research agenda focussing on gender within CA to guide these developments (Farnworth et al, 2016;Murray et al, 2016;Wekesah et al, 2019).…”

“…There is evidence not only that factors at household level such as poor health constrain women's ability to participate (Jew et al, 2020), but that successful farming strategies can put women at risk of being dispossessed of land by men (Wekesah et al, 2019). The complexity of gender relations illustrates that changes are needed at policy level and require nuanced development, in addition to greater attention to a research agenda focussing on gender within CA to guide these developments (Farnworth et al, 2016;Murray et al, 2016;Wekesah et al, 2019). Easy and quick "wins" include using female extension officers to increase female participation, which has been successful agricultural innovation across the border in Mozambique (Kondylis et al, 2016).…”

Improvement of smallholder farming systems in Africa

“…Promoted GAP need to provide sufficient return to labor and diminish situations of continuous toil with little return (Snapp et al., 2018). If increased labor is required, the net returns to labor needs to be high, as is illustrated by women's interest in adoption of conservation agriculture (Wekesah, Mutua, & Izugbara, 2019). There have been many cases of smallholder adoption of increased mechanization when it was found to be sufficiently beneficial but probably many more cases of failure to achieve sustained adoption where the benefits were judged to be inadequate.…”