Effect of socio-cultural factors on gendered decision-making in the adoption of improved maize storage technologies
Loading...
Date
2022
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Taylor & Francis Online
Abstract
Post-harvest loss is a historical challenge affecting some of agricultural products including maize which is a vital cereal crop in Tanzania. Enhanced knowledge and training on the use of metal silo and hermetic bags have been among the initiatives introduced to address post-harvest losses. This paper, therefore, assesses the effects of socio-cultural factors on the gendered decision-making process in the adoption of improved maize storage technologies. The paper looks at the role of bargaining power, task division and implications for enhancing the socio-economic status of farming households. The study was cross-sectional and used a multistage sampling method to select villages and respondents in each district. Data were collected through questionnaires, focus groups and key informant interviews. Logistic regression and descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data gathered. The findings revealed that awareness, farming experience, age and beliefs were the key socio-cultural factors that made men and women adopt better storage technologies. The findings further revealed that the division of tasks between gender-specific households was not statistically significant with respect to the adoption of improved maize storage technologies. These findings imply that there is no need for gender mainstreaming in task division and gender-sensitive technologies, even among gender-diverse farmers from diverse socio-cultural communities. Thus, awareness programs need to be expanded and adopt joint decisions through farming households so as to play a key role in balancing bar-gaining power
Description
Full text article. Also available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/23311932.2022.2132849
Keywords
Gendered decision, Socio-cultural factors, Storage technology, Task division, Maize storage technologies, Agricultural products, Cereal crops, Tanzania
Citation
Mwinuka, L., & Hyera, E. O. (2022). Effect of socio-cultural factors on gendered decision-making in the adoption of improved maize storage technologies. Cogent Food & Agriculture, 8(1), 2132849. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311932.2022.2132849