new seeds and women’s welfare

johanna bergman lodindept of human geography lund university sweden

johanna.bergman-lodin@keg.lu.se

the case of nerica upland rice and gendered labor dynamics in

hoima district, ugandairrc28, hanoi, november 9, 2010

acknowledgement

prof. Magnus JirströmDept of Human Geography

Lund University, Sweden

ms. Milly Mugenyi

Council for Economic Empowerment for Women of Africa (CEEWA-U), Kampala,

Uganda

nerica (new rice for africa) in uganda

rice is becoming an important food!NERICA-4, a new high-yielding and stress

tolerant upland rice variety, introduced in 2002high-level commitment by top leadership and

development partnersest. +50,000ha + impressive production

performance (yields x2 upland rice average)one of the major NERICA producers in the world

assessments indicating its positive effects on household income poverty

our study

2008-2009, main focus: Hoima Districtmixed methods research:

survey of 302 NERICA growers (smallholders) 2008 diary study to record precise family

labor input (13 households) more than 50 focus group interviews

key informant interviews with various rice value chain stakeholders

additional interviews in Kampala and in Luwero and Wakiso districts

our focus

rich evidence from other rice-based interventions of disappointing adoption

dynamics relating to labor

critical to establish at what and whose cost agriculture is made more productive

through the promotion of rice HYVs intensification processes are social and

gendered

labor intensity of nericamost frequently raised and returned-to topic

during interviews and discussions

farmers’ core production concern and constraint

two dimensions of labor intensity: time consumption

labor exhaustion/drudgery

bird scaring and weeding

the two most time consuming tasks in NERICA production

62% of survey respondents identified bird scaring as most time consuming

24% identified weeding as most time consuming

these tasks are mainly carried out by women (and children) due to prevailing gendered

divisions of labor!according to women, NERICA is also the most

time consuming and labor exhausting crop they grow

bird scaringre

spo

nde

nts’ voic

es

red-billed quelea”the greatest biological limit to african cereal

production” board on science and technology for international

development, national research council, u.k. (1996). lost crops of africa: volume 1: grains; p. 273

photos: www.biodiversityexplorer.org; www.mangoverde.com

time consuming: in absolute terms: 12-13 hrs/day for +1 month;

eq. +1/3 of total labor input in relative terms: not needed for other crops

labor exhausting / inducing drudgery: you have to run up and down the field,

shouting, waving, clapping hands, throwing stones, using rattles and drums

mainly affecting women and children! some men have started to get engaged, but

their participation is not yet equal

weedingre

spo

nde

nts’ voic

es

time consuming: not in absolute terms; ≈10% of total invested labor

BUT: in relative terms: (two or) three weedings

instead of one; NERICA is one of the most weeding intensive crops

crop performance & weed prevalenceif farmers weed thrice instead of once, they can

realize almost 2.5 times as high nerica yieldsNaCCRI (cereals program, the national crops resources research institute).

2009. “upland rice cultivation guide”. national agricultural research organization (NARO) and japan international cooperation agency (JICA).

labor exhausting / inducing drudgery: backbreaking work

endure it thrice instead of once hand and hoe weedings combined while

usually only hoe weeding in other crops

mainly affecting women and children! some men have started to get engaged, but

their participation is not yet equal

synthesishousehold income gain

from NERICAbut extreme labor burden

for women (and children)exacerbates their time

poverty and drudgerymay prevent the formation

of their social and human capitals

the suboptimal distribution of costs and benefits between men and women may

jeopardize future interventions and the chances to achieve sustainable results!

adoption is not an irreversible state – in some districts dropouts are already systematic!

interventions should therefore aim at both improving rice adoption/ production/

productivity and increasing the productive capacity of farming activities in which

women are engaged

policy implications

webale muno!

thank you!