Gender and Agroforestry in Africa

• What is the level of women’s participation vis a vis men’s?

• BY E. Kiptot and S. Franzel

Introduction• AF as a practice has in recent years made major

technical advances

• However, despite some success stories, very little is known about the level of participation of women vis a vis men

• This presentation is a review of Agroforestry in Africa from a Gender Perspective.

• Emphasis is on;– the participation of women in AF in relation to men– the challenges and successes they experience – some recommendations on how to promote gender

equity in Agroforestry

Improved tree/shrub fallows

Deliberate planting of fast growing

trees/shrubs usually legumes to supply nutrients to crops

Biomass transfer

Biomass from trees/shrubs grown away from the farm/on-farm, is cut and incorporated in the soil as green manure when planting crops

Fodder Production and utilization

Fodder shrubs/trees are planted on farm along hedges, boundaries and contours-They are continuously lopped and given to livestock

Woodlot Technology

• Woodlot Technology- Planting of trees in sole/mixed stands on farm to provide mainly wood fuel, poles and timber-Secondary products are fodder, grass, mushrooms, seed for sale etc

Indigenous Fruit Production/processing

• Women collect, process and market fruits from indigenous trees retained in their cropland, woodlands and in some cases obtain them from forests

V.paradoxa

Dacryodes edulis

Seven Research Questions

1. What is the proportion of women participating in AF in relation to men?

2. Are women able to manage AF technologies?3. What are women preferences in relation to tree

attributes?4. Do women benefit from AF and how?5. Are women reached with AF information6. Are women involved in AF Product markets?7. What needs to be put in place to ensure gender

equity in Agroforestry with greater benefits accruing to women?

1.0 What is the proportion of women participating in AF in relation to men?

• The use of soil fertility management technologies is gender neutral; females participate as well as males (10 studies)

• In eastern Zambia 32% of males and 23% of females had planted improved fallows with no significant differences across locations

• However, women in Zambia had smaller plots than men, 332m2 as compared to 679m2

• Source: Phiri et al (2004)

• In western Kenya, women used IF and biomass transfer more than men who in most cases use inorganic fertilizers

• Source: Place et al (2004)

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Fertillizer Improvedfalows

Biomasstransfer

% o

f 163

0 ho

useh

olds Male heads

Femaleheads

Indigenous fruits• Collection, processing and marketing

of indigenous fruits is considered a women’s domain

• For instance, in Benin (Shea growing region), 90% of women are involved in collecting nuts/fruits of the Shea tree (V. paradoxa)

Woodlot Technology• In Malawi, female headed households were found

to have fewer trees (840) and smaller area (0.84 acres) than men who had more trees (1666) and bigger plots (1.56 acres) in planted woodlots (Chikoko 2002)

16661.565.5Male headed

8400.842.7Female headed

No. of trees

Woodlot size

Land size (acres)

HH type

2.0 Are women able to manage AF technologies?

• Men and women are both involved in management of trees planted on farms, but women do most of the work; over 60% in Marangu and Mamba regions of Tanzania (Epahra 2001) as shown below

10.9Female adults & male children3.6Female adults &hired labour2.7Whole family10.9Female and Male adults10.0Male adults61.8Female adults% of family membersPersons responsible

Are women able to manage AF technologies?

• In Tabora region of Tanzania, out of 23 households planting woodlots, both male and females were involved in management; only nine managed by men alone

• In Eastern Zambia, females are able to manage IF as well as males, although females had higher rates of survival for Sesbania; 47% : 29% had survival rates of over 75%

Are women able to manage AF technologies?• 89 % of females in male

headed households planting Calliandra fodder shrubs in C. Kenya were involved more than their husbands in management

• In Uganda, more females were involved in the management of Callindra fodder shrubs more than their husbands (83% in L.Victoria cresent, 97% in Southern Drylands and 84% in Southern highlands

Fodder shrubs

• Out of 2,600 farmers planting fodder shrubs in central Kenya in 2001, 60% were women

• However, more farmers in male headed households (17%) than in female headed households (16%) had adopted calliandra in Embu District, Kenya

• Female headed households had an average of 40 calliandra fodder trees while male headed had an average of 80

• Joint managed farms had an average of 120 trees; more than the male & female managed farms

3.0 What are women’s preferences in relation to tree attributes?

• Men and Women often have different objectives for planting trees

• Men are more interested in trees for commercial purposes whereas women are inclined to tree products for subsistence useTree attributes in tree planting by Gender in Malawi (Chokoko, 2002)

10.017.50.0052.520.0Male headed (40)

6.72025.016.731.7Female headed (60)

otherProduces charcoal

Good burning qualities

Grows straight

Grows fast

Tree attributes (% or respondents)HH type

4.0 Do women benefit from AF and how?

• Farmers using Calliandra (60% women in C.Kenya) as a fodder increase their income by about US$ 62-US$ 122 a yr. However, it is not clear how much goes to women’s pockets

• More research is needed

• Other non-quantifiable benefits are availability of manure, increased HH nutrition, fuel wood, soil erosion control, bee forage, seed sales etc

• Access to home grown fodder and availability of fire wood from the pruning frees up women’s labour for other productive enterprises and participating in extension

Do women benefit from AF and how?

• Farmers who practice Improved Fallows benefit from increased crop yields, reduction of weeds and fuel wood

• In Zambia, maize yield after two years of Sesbania fallow averaged 5.6 tons/ha compared to 2.0 tons/ha in unfertilized maize

• Furthermore, 15 tons of fuelwood/ha is produced from a 2-yr Sesbania fallow

Do women benefit from AF and how?

• Women who collect fuel-wood from far off places spend 130 hrs/yr, as compared to 36hrs spent by those who have an on-farm supply of fuel wood!!

• If a farmer planted 0.01 to 0.08 ha, fuel wood harvested would last a typical household between 11.8 to 124.8 days increasing to 268.7 to 1173.7 days if the area planted was increased to 0.25 ha.

Do women benefit from AF and how?

• Income from sale of Shea Kernels in Benin for women varied from US$7-36/annum which makes up 2.8% of total household budget

• It is significant for women because they are able to control it

• Income from sale of fermented P.biglobosa seeds in Burkina Faso is about US$ 54/annum accounting for 28.8% of total HH income

• For Irvingia gabonensis it is about US$90 /annum• In Tabora, Tanzania, 85% of women are earning

about US$12-30 /wk through sale of juice; 13/wk thro sale of wine

Do women benefit from AF and how?

• Having a woodlot is beneficial to farmers in many ways.

• In Tabora, farmers appreciated the less time they spend collecting fuel wood; 15-180 minutes as compared to a whole day

• In Malawi, male headed HH earn three times as much from the sale of woodlot products than female headed HH

• This could be attributed to fewer trees in female headed HHs

5.0 Are women reached with AF information?

• Fewer women than men receive extension information

• In C. Kenya, 10% of male headed HHs compared to 5% of female headed HHs received advice on callindra management

• In Uasin Gishu District, Kenya, 45% of males attended Agroforestry field days compared to only 12% female

Gender Participation in mass awareness activities in U. Gishu District, Kenya

3362Agricultural shows

3052Video shows

1338Training on agroforestry

2349Agforestry rallies

2259Education tours

3877Field days

3383Baraza

19951995Activity

FemaleMale

Gender Participation in mass awareness activities% of respondents

Source: KWAP (1996)

Are women involved in AF product markets?

• Women are confined to the lower marketing end of the value chain (collection and retailing

• e.g. marketing of Safou in Cameroon and

• Source: Kanmegne et al. (2007)

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Retail WholesaleP

erce

nta

ge

Men

Women

Product markets• Women traders also receive lower

marketing margins than men. Men have larger stock than women

• Only 20% of women traders in Kenya and Malawi have access to market information

Summary• Women’s participation in AF is low in enterprises

that are considered men’s domain, and high in enterprises that have little or no commercial value

• The degree of women’s involvement relative to men in technologies such as SFM, fodder production and woodlots is fairly high in terms of proportion of female-headed households participating but is low as measured by the area they allocate to these activities and the number of trees they plant

• In marketing, women are confined to the lower end of the value chain (retailing), which limits their control over and returns from the productive process

Recommendations

• Technological Interventions-Domestication of important AF species-Development of

appropriate agricultural and processing techniques

-Development of New products

Policy Interventions

• Access to extension services– ie train more women officers, separate

meetings, Conduct sessions when women are free, organize video show sessions, ensure that women are fully represented in all activities

• Improving women’s access to finance from micro credit institutions

Institutional interventions

• NGOs , governments and the private sector need to intervene in several ways

• Facilitating women to form and strengthen farmer groups/association

• Reduction in transaction costs, attract large buyers, sustainable supply of products, stronger bargaining power

Conclusion

• Agroforestry has the potential to offer great benefits to women across Africa, however for them to participate fully in all aspects, deliberate efforts need to be made by governments, donors, research organizations, NGOs to integrate Gender into development interventions