THEME: There has been relatively little successful innovation in farm tools for African women.
In 1997, IFAD, in collaboration with FAO and the Government of Japan, conducted a study of agricultural implements used by African women. The researchers held extensive discussions with both women and men farmers in Burkina Faso, Senegal Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Women in these countries are assuming an increasingly greater labour burden in agriculture as they take over their migrant husbands’ tasks and adopt new types of activities, such as composting, row planting and the use of planting pits (zai – in Burkina Faso and Niger). They therefore need a variety of agricultural implements to save time and energy and increase their productivity. The study found both locally designed and manufactured tools and imported farm implements in use in most parts. But often the tools that were most needed, such as rakes, forks, spades, donkey carts and sprayers, were missing. In several instances, new agricultural implements or new and seemingly better designs for existing tools have actually been rejected. Why has so little successful innovation taken place in agricultural tools in Africa in the past decades?
The study noted several cases of failed attempts in the transfer of hand tool technology that, in theory, would appear to have been beneficial to women. Two cases from Burkina Faso and Zimbabwe illustrate.
- In Burkina Faso, the National Centre for Agricultural Equipment (CNEA), a state-run operation, has attempted to introduce manual seeders, plunger-type planters and foot-operated water pumps. All have reportedly been unsuccessful, but there was no thorough attempt to understand the underlying causes for this. The IFAD/FAO study reports anecdotal evidence of the foot-operated water pumps’ being rejected because they were seen as dangerous to the health of expectant mothers, and because the force required to operate them made them difficult for children to use.
- In Zimbabwe, a German-financed project attempted to introduce the wheeled push-hoe, which is commonly used in Asia, and appeared to be appropriate for local conditions. However, at the time of the study, its introduction had been unsuccessful. One of the main barriers to its adoption by women farmers was suspected to be the requirement that its user be in an upright position. This position is culturally defined as inappropriate and associated with lazy people, nomads, prisoners and paid workers on commercial farms.
It is difficult to know all the reasons for the failure of these and other seemingly good innovations without access to data from evaluation studies. Unfortunately, most cases of failure of transfer of agricultural implements have not been evaluated, so there has been no learning from experience. The little information that is available seems to suggest that the causes of failure are often more socio-cultural than technical or price related. As one expert in Zimbabwe said, when commenting on the lack of innovation: "Social issues are stronger than the engineering issues". Other information from the studies clearly argues for taking socio-cultural and practical factors into account when introducing new tools or attempting to improve existing ones, particularly if women are the main intended users. These issues include:
- traditional working posture;
- gender or age identification of tools (although this seems to be less important now than it used to be);
- whether the tools will be used in conjunction with animal traction, or not
- whether tools will be used on family or individual plots
- specific taboos associated with certain types of activities, animals or tools (these appear to vary tremendously even within a small area, and according to such factors as women’s age and pregnancy);
- requirements for the transport of tools to distant plots (when people tire of carrying them, heavy implements and tools are sometimes dragged, and thus ruined);
- tool-sharing patterns within the family or between groups of women or households; and
- local repair potential (by people themselves or local blacksmiths or handle-makers).
The need for socio-cultural appropriateness for technology argues for a more participatory approach to the development and testing of agricultural implements, particularly for women farmers’ use, since women are more hampered by cultural constraints. Such partners in innovation can be viewed as falling into three groups:
- the women farmers who are the intended users of the tools;
- the men who, evidence shows, play a major role in the tools’ purchase and in their approval for women’s use and who may also be users of the tools (tools may be shared); and
- the local blacksmiths who could play a major role in making and repairing women’s tools.
The study found that women in many places indicated their interest in having better tools and their willingness to work with researchers in developing them. Men appeared surprisingly supportive too.
Successful innovation in women’s agricultural tools can take place only if socio-cultural factors are considered. Even then, pre-testing of tools with different groups of women will be needed. Where attempted innovation fails, it is a pity to miss out on learning the causes for that failure for lack of adequate monitoring and evaluation. Such learning will help not only to modify the tool in question, but also to improve the effectiveness of future innovation.
Adapted from:
IFAD/FAO/Government of Japan. 1998. Agricultural Implements Used by Women Farmers in Africa. Rome.
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