Gender and Cassava (Manihot esculenta crantz) value chains: An intra-household gendered analysis of smallholder farmers in Tanzania

Abstract

This study examined intra-household gender inequalities in the cassava value chains in Tanzania with the aim of enabling women to escape poverty and food insecurity through enhanced women empowerment and participation in cassava value chains. This is because women in developing countries are often omitted from key parts of the agricultural value chains. In contrast to global high value chains, traditional food value chains such as cassava and associated gender relations as well as power dynamics within households have received little attention. A reason for this tendency is because much of the value chain studies have ignored intra-household gender dynamics and concentrated much of their investigations on the macro level without taking a gendered analysis at the micro level. A convergent mixed-methods design was adopted which consists of a quantitative strand and qualitative strand being conducted independently of each other, with the integration of the two strands occurring at the interpretation stage. Data were collected from Kigoma, Zanzibar, Mkuranga and Geita through structured interviews conducted with 228 farmers, triangulated with key informant interviews, direct observations, repeated household visits, and desk review. Descriptive statistics and thematic content analysis were used to analyse quantitative and qualitative data respectively. Biprobit and ordinary least squares regression models were used to estimate the determinants of women’s participation in cassava cultivation and marketing in Tanzania. The findings reveal that there are weak linkages within the cassava value chain, which were highly gendered. While the production and processing nodes of the cassava value chains were dominated by women and children, women were not well-integrated within high value nodes such as marketing in urban areas and cross-border trading, which were dominated by men. Transportation of cassava to highly lucrative markets was also dominated by men. Women were confined to local weekly markets with low prices while men dominated as middlemen and urban marketers. Cassava processing was conducted at the household level as well as within small-scale cooperatives, with the major portion of this work being done by women. Supporting institutions were found to be involved in the supply of cassava planting material, training, and the provision of processing equipment. Both men and women were not accessing credit and extension support. In general, men played a prominent role in the control of resources, marketing, and income. The mapping of cassava value chains could help to identify avenues for upgrading capacities, reducing gender inequality, and enhancing women’s participation in marketing and income control.