Scientific Publication

Is bean really a women’s crop? Men and women’s participation in bean production in Uganda

author(s) Nakazi, Florence - Njuki, Jemimah - Ugen, Michael Adrogu - Aseete, Paul - Katungi, Enid M. - Birachi, Eliud Abucheli - Kabanyoro, Ruth - Mugagga, Isaac Joseph - Nanyonjo, Grace
from International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)
permalink open
themes
regions
  • Africa
  • World
  • Eastern Africa
  • Sub-Saharan Africa
  • Western Asia
  • Asia
citation

Nakazi, Florence; Njuki, Jemimah; Ugen, Michael Adrogu; Aseete, Paul; Katungi, Enid; Birachi, Eliud; Kabanyoro, Ruth; Mugagga, Isaac Joseph; Nanyonjo, Grace. 2017. Is bean really a women’s crop? Men and women’s participation in bean production in Uganda . Agriculture & Food Security 6:22.
Is bean really a women’s crop? Men and women’s participation in bean production in Uganda

Publications and datasets provided via GARDIAN

Abstract

Background
Common bean one of the grain legumes that was traditionally considered a subsistence crop and therefore a woman’s crop in Uganda was prioritized for commercialization. This has transformed the crop from being a subsistence crop (food security crop) to a commercial crop with more men engaged in its production. Little is known about the possibility of gender conflicts in production activities as the crop finds market.

Methods
The study uses gender-disaggregated survey data from 500 men and 625 women in central Uganda. Both bivariate and multivariate methods were used to access the notion of bean being a women’s crop based on gender participation intensities (a pairwise t test and Tobit regression model).

Results
Seventy-three percent male-headed and 87% female-headed households had membership in farmers groups. Bean crop was majorly owned by women. Seventy-five percent of the studied bean plots were intercropped with other crops. On average, both men and women operated at one bean plot per season estimated. Winnowing (4.26), post-harvest handling and storage (4.25), sorting (4.22), planting (4.04) and weeding (4.00) were the five top most activities that rural women heavily participated in. The following are the top most five activities that men participated in: site selection (3.94), spraying against pests and diseases (3.81), bush clearing (3.77), fertilizer application (3.73) and harvesting beans (3.73). Bean consumption (1.3%), marketability (17.5%), distance to plot (8.1%), education (1.3%) and color (18.1%) had significant influence on women participation intensities. Household size (5.8%), farming as primary occupation (42.7%) and bean color (30.8%) had significant influence on men bean participation intensities.

Conclusions
The study revealed there was significantly no bean production activity that was purely done by only men or only done by women. Thus, bean cannot be classified as a women’s crop based on participation intensities since men offered support in a number of activities. In order to close the gender gap in bean production, there is need to target both men and women with gendered interventions and address issues of traditional norms.

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