gender differences in agricultural production strategies: variations by village and social network
DESCRIPTION
Small farmers offer a diversity of perspectives on agricultural production strategies. On one hand, individual knowledge and beliefs may be quite similar across perspectives, such as the idea that crop rotation is an important practice. On the other, broad based knowledge and belief systems can be markedly different. Specifically, farmers may gravitate towards conventional, risk-averse, or conservation agricultural perspectives. These overarching strategies shape multiple indicators of one's perception of best farming practices. Although research often finds differences in mindset according to region, little scholarship has examined agroecological perspectives as a function of gender. This paper investigates an ethnically homogenous agricultural zone in north central Mali with equal samples of males and females within each of four villages. Our goal is to explore gender differences by focusing on: (a) examining variations in gender perspectives with respect to agroecological knowledge and belief systems, (b) exploring gender differences within and across villages and, (c) analyzing the social network to identify actors that foster relationships based on farmers' gender.TRANSCRIPT
Gender differences in agricultural
production strategies:
Variations by village and social
networkMATT FORNITO VIRGINIA TECH/OIRED
KEITH M. MOORE VIRGINIA TECH/OIRED
MOUSSA KEITA INSTITUT D’ECONOMIE RURALE/CRRA-
MOPTI
EMILY VAN HOUWELING VIRGINIA TECH/OIRED
Agenda
Conservation Agriculture
Mindsets
How gender affects mindsets
Social network analysis (SNA)
How gender shapes network relationships
Implications and practical uses of SNA
Overview
Conservation Agriculture Production Systems (CAPS)
Resistance to Adoption
Changing Mindsets
Gender Differences
Relationships
Goals
Identify relationships between farm men, farm women, and
non-farm agents and their respective mindsets
Identify what gender differences exist across mindsets and network
structures.
Identify what village differences exist across mindsets and network
structures.
How can researchers and agents better
communicate/promote Conservation Agriculture?
Sample
Mali
N=238
Farmers from Two Cercles (Cercle of Koro and Cercle of Bankass)
containing Four Villages (Koporo-pen, Oro, Diallassagou, and
Lagassagou)
Equal gender sampling (Men n=118; Women n=120)
Snowball sampling from farmers to obtain 36 non-farm agents (service
sector or community agents)
Factor Analysis
The Agricultural Production Perspectives Scaleis a 20-item
questionnaire that assesses farming ideologies and practices.1
Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted in SPSS on the farm men
sample and then again on the farm women sample
Items were retained based on item loadings, cross loadings, and
communalities
Factor loadings were retained if they had an eigenvalue greater than one
and verified produced through Cronbach alpha scale reliability
Both farm men and farm women produced a two-factor solution comprised
of primarily, unique item loadings
Farm Men Factors
A two-factor solution with six different items emerged for the farm men. The items composing the first factor are beliefs associated with a “mixed crop livestock production” including:
Inorganic fertilizer is best to improve soil quality
Timely weeding (before setting of seed) is important to a successful harvest
Crop residues should only be fed to livestock and poultry
Land preparation for crop production begins with plowing
The second factor that emerged for farm men can be described as “capital intensive” agriculture based on the beliefs that:
Applying chemical pesticides is always necessary
Farm labor should be replaced by more efficient herbicides and machines
Farm Women Factors
Factor analysis for farm women produced a two-factor solution comprised of seven items. The first factor can be described as a traditional “market driven” approach and contains three items:
Planting decisions are always based off of current market prices
Crops should only be grown for sale
Earning off-farm income is more important than a large harvest
The second factor was considered “sustainable production” and contained four items:
One should maintain a permanent crop cover
Farm production is necessary to feed the family
Inorganic fertilizer is best to improve soil quality
One should always strive to grow the most on one’s land
Group Differences
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5
Sustainable Production
Market Driven
Capital Intensive
Mixed Crop Livestock Production
Factor Analysis of Farmer and Non-Farm Agents Mindsets
Farm Men Farm Women Non-Farm Agents
Gender Differences by Farmer Contact
Location
Average Number of Contacts
Information Resource
WomenKoro (n=60) 4.37c 2.23b
Bankass (n=60) 4.70d 3.93c
MenKoro (n=58) 3.24b 2.19b
Bankass (n=60) 1.38a 1.00a
Social Network Analysis
Network analysis is a tool used to
map all individuals and their
relationships within a defined space
Helps to identify clusters, density of
network, highly connected individuals,
and isolates
2
Social Network Analysis
Visual graphing tool with mathematical calculations in the background
Individuals (actors/nodes)
Relationships (ties/lines)
Measures
Degree Centrality
Authorities
Utility of Social Network Analysis in
Agricultural Communities
Advise Seeking
Mindset Change
Farm Men
NetworkFarm Women
Network
Authority of Nodes within the Network
LAGASSAGOUDIALLASSAGOU
KOPORO-PEN ORO
LAGASSAGOU DIALLASSAGOU
KOPORO-PEN ORO
Farm Men and Women in Koporo-pen
Farm Women
Network in
Koporo-Pen
Farm Men
Network in Koporo-Pen
Conservation
Agriculture
Level of agreement/
disagreement with statement:
“Tillage causes land degradation”
Tillage by Gender
Take Away
External agents looking to change mindsets should learn and identify the
value systems of locals to adapt change mechanisms to the population at
hand
Intervention are different based on the village and person-influence
Men and women have mindset differences and hold different relationships
in a network
There is an opportunity to target key players in a network to more
effectively promote new technologies and ideas like CA
Thank You.
Citations
1. Lamb, J., Moore, K. M., & Christie, M. E. (2010). Research framework for
technology network and gendered knowledge analyses. Blacksburg, VA.
2. http://blog.luisdaniel.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/SocialNetwork-
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