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Gender & Cropping in Sub-Saharan Africa: Cotton

EPAR RESEARCH BRIEF #55

Mon, 01/18/2010

AUTHORS: Kate Schneider, C. Leigh Anderson, Mary Kay Gugerty

ABSTRACT: 

Estimates suggest that women grow 70-80 percent of Africa’s food crops, which may constrain their involvement in cash crop production, if food crop production places additional demands their time, resources and labor.  There is little evidence regarding women’s motivations or decisions to grow cash versus food crops. Similarly, the policy literature on cotton production and markets in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) does not explicitly address the issue of gender, further limiting the information available on the impact of cotton production on women. This brief provides an overview of the role of women in cotton production, and provides a framework for analyzing barriers to women and technology’s impact on women throughout the cropping cycle. We find that women are typically not the primary cultivators of cotton, and that cotton production is a household cultivation strategy, especially in West and Central Africa. Cotton cultivation often provides access to fertilizers, pesticides and extension services that are otherwise unavailable to households. Women have benefitted from household cotton income when they have input in intra-household resource allocation decisions or when they are able to grow cotton on personal plots and have control over the income it generates. Women also benefit from cotton when it offers them the opportunity to engage in paid labor. The data suggests, however, that cotton cultivation can negatively impact women when it increases their unpaid agricultural labor burden or exposes them to harmful chemicals. 

This brief is part of a series of literature reviews exploring gender implications of improved cropping technology in Sub-Saharan Africa. Each crop-specific paper explores the role of women in production, and provides a framework for analyzing technology’s impact on women throughout the cropping cycle. Click the links below to explore the other briefs in this series.

  • Gender & Cropping in Sub-Saharan Africa: Executive Summary (EPAR Research Brief #64)
  • Gender & Cropping in Sub-Saharan Africa: Overview (EPAR Research Brief #33)
  • Gender & Cropping in Sub-Saharan Africa: Rice (EPAR Research Brief #27)
  • Gender & Cropping in Sub-Saharan Africa: Cassava (EPAR Research Brief #32)
  • Gender & Cropping in Sub-Saharan Africa: Wheat (EPAR Research Brief #36)
  • Gender & Cropping in Sub-Saharan Africa: Maize (EPAR Research Brief #38)
  • Gender & Cropping in Sub-Saharan Africa: Sorghum (EPAR Research Brief #39)
  • Gender & Cropping in Sub-Saharan Africa: Millet (EPAR Research Brief #40)
  • Gender & Cropping in Sub-Saharan Africa: Yams (EPAR Research Brief #51)

TYPE OF RESEARCH: Research Brief

RESEARCH TOPIC CATEGORY: Sustainable Agriculture & Rural Livelihoods; Agricultural Inputs & Farm Management; Market & Value Chain Analysis; Labor & Time Use; Gender; Technology; Technology Adoption

POPULATION(S): Women

GEOGRAPHIC FOCUS: Sub-Saharan Africa

Downloadable Documents

Full Brief