updated: 19 January, 2007
IFAD
Gender
International Fund for Agricultural Development

THEME: There are identifiable but dynamic patterns in gender division of labour in agriculture.

Uganda-Vegetable Oil Development Project - Farmers in Alela village weed sunflower plants. The Vegetable Oil Development Project is assisting farmers to cultivate, produce, and sell oil from vegetables in Lira District, northern Uganda. IFAD Photo by Robert Grossman According to a 2000 IFAD study under the Gender Strengthening Programme for Eastern and Southern Africa, agriculture is the main source of income for rural households in Uganda. It is also the main occupation of women. Nationwide, 72% of all employed women and 90% of all rural women work in agriculture. Only 53% of rural men do so. Cash crops include coffee, cotton, sugar cane, sunflower and tobacco. Dual-purpose crops, such as banana, beans, cassava, fruits, maize and vegetables, are also grown.

Division of labour in Uganda varies by region and farming system. It can also change over time or in response to market conditions. However some tasks are almost exclusively undertaken by men, and some by women. Predominantly male tasks include the felling of trees, ploughing with oxen or tractors, digging holes, the purchase and use of chemicals, looking for markets and the sale of produce. Women usually undertake sowing, harvesting, headloading of produce, crop-drying, winnowing, seed selection, pig and poultry-rearing and bartering sunflower seeds for oil. Other tasks, such as weeding, bagging and crop storage, are almost equally undertaken by both women and men. It is estimated that women do 85% of the planting, 85% of the weeding, 55% of land preparation and 98% of all food processing. However, decisions to market are usually made by men (70%), or are made jointly (15%). In rural areas, it is estimated that women’s workloads considerably exceed those of men.

Traditionally, men tend to be responsible for the cash crops, but much of male labour is withdrawn if those crops decrease in profitability. This happened with many crops in the seventies and eighties, when producer prices were unfavourable. When market conditions change, attracting male labour back to such crops may be difficult.

The field diagnostic study done in Uganda noted some relevant patterns in division of labour in agriculture:

  • Men tend to dominate the more remunerative activities in agriculture.
  • Traditionally, men are responsible for cash crops, but women tend to be involved at all stages, with men becoming more active close to market time.
  • When products such as vegetables are destined for the market, rather than for home consumption, men will be more likely to perform tasks that would otherwise be left to women.
  • Whenever a crop becomes profitable, men tend to take over its sale and control its earnings.
  • If a cash crop, and particularly a food cash crop, becomes unprofitable, men tend to lose interest in it, and women may take over its control.
  • Women and children tend to be delegated the farm tasks that are tedious and time consuming.
  • Women control the crops they produce on their own plots and any resulting income from their sale.
  • Division of labour can be influenced by changes in technology: men may take over when certain tasks are mechanised or animal traction is used. There can be many reasons for this, including cultural association of such technology with males, targeting of required training towards men only, and status benefits from use of the technology.
  • When crops are headloaded to market, women and children do the work, but when bicycles are available for transport, men use them to transport the crop.
  • Men perform the marketing of high-value cash crops and cattle, whereas women will normally sell surplus produce from their own plots, and their chickens and pigs

Division of labour in agriculture is not only quite complicated, but also dynamic and subject to change. This means that generalizations need to be made with care. It also implies that the project monitoring system should include this as an indicator. A sudden change can mean a labour shortage or an alteration in project impact.

Adapted from:

FAO. 2000. IFAD’s Gender Strengthening Programme for East and Southern Africa – Uganda Field Diagnostic Study (Draft). Rome.