Reducing gender gaps in the awareness and uptake of drought-tolerant maize in Uganda: The role of education, extension services and social networks

Monica Fisher, Endeshaw Habte, William Ekere, Tsedeke Abate and Paul Lewin

Journal of Gender, Agriculture and Food Security (Agri-Gender), 2019, vol. 4, issue 01

Abstract: Cultivation of drought-tolerant (DT) maize seed reduces drought risk in sub-Saharan Africa. Data from eastern Uganda reveal gender gaps in awareness and adoption of DT maize. Among surveyed male household heads, 67.6 percent had awareness of DT maize varieties and 29.2 percent grew them. Corresponding gures for female household heads were 43.3 percent (awareness) and 5.3 percent (adoption) and those for wives in spousal couple households were 51.0 percent and 11.1 percent. Propensity score matching (PSM) found that awareness of the technology has a decisive role in DT maize adoption. Regression analysis indicated that education exerts the greatest in uence on agricultural technology awareness for female household heads, while social networks matter most for wives of male household heads. Policies leading to gender equity in access to education and agricultural information resources would give women farmers similar awareness of DT maize seed as men farmers and reduce the gender technology gap.

Keywords: Labor and Human Capital; Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:afgend:301197

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.301197

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