Exploring Social Dynamics to Better Understand a "Women's Crop": Gender+ and groundnut in Africa

This session will explore findings from four on-going research projects explicitly focused on intersecting gender+ dynamics in groundnut (peanut) cultivation in rural Africa (Ghana, Senegal and Uganda). Central themes of the research include the impact of time use and time poverty; intrahousehold power and labor dynamics; youth engagement; and land tenure and climate change on individuals, households and communities engaged in groundnut-based livelihoods. Funded through the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Peanut, these projects involve international teams of scientists from disciplines including rural sociology, geography, and agricultural economics; they likewise employ diverse quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methodological approaches, ranging from participatory photovoice to household surveys, unstructured interviews, and wrist-worn activity monitors. Uniting these research efforts is a shared focus on understanding the opportunities, barriers and structural changes necessary for building inclusive, equitable and resilient groundnut value chains.

 

Moderator/organisers:
Jessica Marter-Kenyon, University of Georgia, USA

Edward Martey, Savannah Agricultural Research Institute, Ghana

Women’s empowerment and poverty in Northern Region of Ghana

 

Genti Kostandini, University of Georgia

Gender considerations, land tenure, agricultural employment and climate change impacts among young farmers in the Groundnut Basin in Senegal

 

Sarah Blakeley, University of California at Santa Barbara, USA

Gendered Time Use Life Cycle among Senegalese peanut farmers

 

Carrie Stephens, University of Tennessee- Knoxville, USA

Barriers and opportunities for youth engagement and empowerment in groundnut value chains in Uganda