Mensah, Michael: Gender roles in Agriculture and natural resources management in upper east region, Ghana. - Bonn, 2019. - Dissertation, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn.
Online-Ausgabe in bonndoc: https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hbz:5n-56302
@phdthesis{handle:20.500.11811/8015,
urn: https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hbz:5n-56302,
author = {{Michael Mensah}},
title = {Gender roles in Agriculture and natural resources management in upper east region, Ghana},
school = {Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn},
year = 2019,
month = nov,

note = {The Upper East region is one of the poorest regions in Ghana with an estimated 90% of the people living in rural areas being peasant farmers. In many instances, farmers use their land unsustainably thus worsening the already poor soil condition. Women in the region contribute substantially to food production. However, the lack of access to land and other farm inputs are major challenges that reduce their potential production levels. Climate change is another challenge which is expected to worsen the already food insecure situation of the region. Management decisions and choice of management practices have implications for the natural resource base. The study sought to investigate the livelihood typologies and the factors that differentiate household types and determine the gender specific agricultural roles in the upper east region of Ghana. Similarly, gender differentials in the adoption of inorganic fertilizer and factors that influence gender-specific adaptation strategies to climate change and variability were studied. Finally, role-playing games were used to guide management of natural resources from a gender perspective.
A household survey was conducted from August to December 2014 using a pre-tested questionnaire where 150 males and 150 female farmers were randomly sampled from 14 communities within the Bolgatanga Municipality and Bongo district. Subsequently, a total of 44 grazing games comprising 22 games for male headed household (HH) and 22 games for female HH were played.
Results show that male farmers have access to and cultivate larger land areas than females in the study area due to the patrilineal system of inheritance. In addition, male farmers cultivate cash crops such as legume compared to women who kept a higher percentage of their lands under the cultivation of traditional cereal crops to improve household food security. Furthermore, male HH generate relatively higher income from the sale of their farm produce than their female counterparts. Women generally have limited access to land. Women are involved in all stages of farming activities and more particularly in physically demanding activities such as planting crops, weeding, planting trees, fertilizer application, watering, tree and crop harvesting and hauling of farm produce. The only role women play in the financial administration of the farm is selling of crops. Men on the other hand are engaged in land preparation, feeding of livestock, seedling production and pruning of trees. They are the main actors in the financial administration such as purchasing of farm inputs, farm financing and maintenance of farm records. The study also shows that male headed households are more likely to adopt fertilizer application than female HH. The factors that significantly influenced male HH adoption of inorganic fertilizer were household size, marital status, area of land allocated for maize and rice production and perceptions about fertility status of the soil. Factors that influence adoption of inorganic fertilizer for female headed HH were, farming experience, household size and dependency ratio, farm area for maize and rice and family remittance. A majority of both gender groups perceived an increase in temperature, a decrease precipitation and an increase in drought spells. However only 49% male and 40% female HH have adopted strategies to cope with increasing temperatures while 56% male and 49% female have adapted to decreasing precipitation. Similarly, 62% male and 60% female HH have adapted to increasing drought spells. The main difference between the two groups are that males prefer to migrate and seek employment in other parts of the country whereas females prefer to engage in off-farm jobs such as trading, basketry and shea-butter processing. The age of farmers, access to extension services, access to credit facility, farming experience between 11- 21 years, and perceived loss of soil fertility, among other factors, are more likely to lead to the adoption of practices that reduce the impact of decreasing and erratic precipitation. In the games, males produced higher numbers of cows but created the largest desert patches. Females were identified as better managers of natural resources as they created fewer desert patches. Strategies such as reducing the number of cows to allow for re-growth of vegetation in periods of feed scarcity, ploughing for each other using bulls, and family support using income from the sale of livestock were employed by both gender groups. Policies which target maize and rice producers will be relevant to increase fertilizer adoption. In addition, policies that target experienced farmers, farmers with large household size among female-headed households will be relevant for adoption of fertilizer. To promote climate change adaptation, policy should target farmers who have access to credit, extension services, land and access to weather information. The involvement of female farmers in decision-making is crucial to improve natural resource management.},

url = {https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11811/8015}
}

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