Routledge Handbook of Gender and Agriculture by Sachs Carolyn E.; Jensen Leif; Castellanos Paige

Author:Sachs, Carolyn E.; Jensen, Leif; Castellanos, Paige
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Group
Published: 2020-09-13T00:00:00+00:00

Lack of access to information provided to farmer groups

Formal and informal producer organizations can help rural communities overcome poverty and facilitate access to resources, assets, markets, and services (Kaaria et al., 2016). Extension information is commonly provided through community meetings, community-based organizations, producer associations, and cooperatives. Women may face obstacles to joining male-dominated cooperatives and fare poorly when services are delivered by extension agents through these groups (Manfre et al., 2013). Due to unequal gender norms and relations, women often have a lower socioeconomic status than men, which limits women’s access and participation in formal groups. Membership may target one person per household, with the result being that participants may be limited to landowners or people of a higher education or social level. Women’s restricted access to, control over, and ownership of land, credit, and information is a disadvantage to them in meeting the conditions of formal group membership and leadership (Manfre et al., 2013; Ragasa et al., 2013; Tanwir and Safdar, 2013; Woldu et al., 2013). In addition, as groups become more formalized, women’s participation tends to decrease, while that of men increases (World Bank, 2010).

In organizations that allow mixed-sex membership, men often participate more than women because gender norms deter women’s active participation in the company of men. Even so, women participating in mixed-sex groups can potentially benefit by tapping into men’s networks, resources, and information. As a result of working collaboratively over an extended period in mixed-sex farmer groups, women can gain confidence, and men can learn to work with and have greater respect for women’s contribution to their livelihoods. Studies have found that collaboration, solidarity, and conflict resolution increase when farmer groups are mixed and include a substantial proportion of women (Westermann et al., 2005). However, in some situations, even if women can participate, it may be necessary to form gender-based subgroups to build capacity for women. Barriers to women’s participation can shift according to individual and social group characteristics, such as social and educational status, age, and location. In some situations, older, wealthier, more educated, unmarried, female household heads are more likely to be members of agricultural cooperatives compared to other women (Agarwal, 200l; Oxfam International, 2013).

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