Women Farmers and Agricultural Innovation: Marital Status and Normative Expectations in Rural Ethiopia

Lone Badstue, Patti Petesch, Cathy Rozel Farnworth, Lara Roeven and Mahlet Hailemariam
Additional contact information
Lone Badstue: Gender & Social Inclusion, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, CIMMYT Int., Texcoco 56237, Mexico
Patti Petesch: Knowledge, Technology and Innovation Group, Wageningen University and Research, 6700 Wageningen, The Netherlands
Cathy Rozel Farnworth: Independent Researcher, 48145 Münster, Germany
Lara Roeven: International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, CIMMYT Int., Texcoco 56237, Mexico
Mahlet Hailemariam: Independent Researcher, 1176 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 23, 1-22

Abstract: Sustainable agricultural development depends on female and male smallholders being effective farmers. This includes the ability to access or control resources and make the best decisions possible agro-ecologically, economically, and socially. Traditionally, gendered studies on innovation practice focus on female- versus male-headed households. In this paper, we focus on married women in acknowledged male-headed households and women heading their own households to examine how marital status influences women’s capacity to innovate in their rural livelihoods. Using data from eight community case studies in Ethiopia, we used variable-oriented and contextualized case-oriented analysis to understand factors which promote or constrain women’s innovative capacities. We use Kabeer’s Resources–Agency–Achievements framework to structure our findings. Single women are more likely to own land and experience control over their production decisions and expenditures than married women, but engage in considerable struggle to obtain resources that should be theirs according to the law. Even when land is secured, customary norms often hamper women’s effective use of land and their ability to innovate. Still, some single women do succeed. Married women can innovate successfully provided they are in a collaborative relationship with their husbands. Finally, we find that gender-based violence limits women’s achievements. The article concludes with recommendations.

Keywords: sustainable development; women; marital status; gender norms; capacity to innovate; wheat; maize; Ethiopia (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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