Gender, agricultural commercialization, and collective action in Kenya

With the commercialisation of agriculture, women are increasingly disadvantaged because of persistent gender-disparities in access to productive resources. This paper believes that farmer collective action that intends to improve smallholder access to markets and technology could potentially accelerate this trend.

The paper uses survey data of small-scale banana producers in Kenya to investigate the gender implications of recently established farmer groups. Findings are that:

• the groups contribute to increasing male control over banana, which traditionally has been a women’s crop
  
• moreover, while male control over banana revenues does not affect household food security, it has a negative marginal effect on dietary quality
• this suggests that the gains from centralisation are not shared equally within the household

The document demonstrates that the negative gender implications of farmer groups can be reduced or avoided when women are group members themselves. Furthermore, in the poorest income segments, this group membership even seems to have a positive effect on female-controlled income share.

The study states that some cautious broader conclusions may be permissible:

• collective action and other interventions set out to promote market access for smallholders can change gender relations to the detriment of women
• if women are members in farmer groups themselves, this can contribute to empowerment and a better position in intra-household bargaining
• groups that are better targeted to the needs of women farmers may increase their likelihood of participation
• for instance, group-organised microcredit schemes, input acquisition, or transport services may ease some of the women-specific constraints

The paper concludes that further research is necessary to gain a deeper understanding of the trends in different settings and to help design mechanisms towards gender mainstreaming in collective action.