IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/wodepe/v22y2021ics2452292921000230.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Gender relations in smallholder cattle production in Zambia

Author

Listed:
  • Lubungu, Mary
  • Birner, Regina

Abstract

In recent years, women empowerment has been a topical issue on the global development agenda, and evidence suggests that ownership of productive assets leads to intra-household empowerment. In smallholder rural households, ownership of productive assets such as cattle is considered a valuable asset as it provides multiple benefits. Despite the importance of owning cattle, gender differences are more pronounced in cattle ownership compared to small livestock in Sub-Saharan African countries. Therefore, this study examines in detail why the cattle gender gap continues to persist. Addressing this knowledge gap requires identifying how female household members acquire cattle and understand what cattle ownership means from a gendered lens. It is also essential to determine the factors associated with the proportion of cattle owned by female household members and determining if the share of cattle owned by female household members is correlated with cattle herd productivity and women empowerment. We used a mixed-methods approach to address the study objectives. Our qualitative findings suggest that though women can acquire cattle through various means, they often do not have full ownership based on the bundles of rights. The quantitative estimations show that even though women are likely to own cattle, the likelihood to increase the share of cattle they own is less due to the perceived intrahousehold conflicts that are likely to ensue. This suggests that the cattle ownership gender gap is likely to continue to persist. We also find insignificant negative correlation between the share of cattle owned by female household members and cattle herd productivity. However, we find that female household headship, education, cattle mortality, and birth rates are the key drivers of cattle herd productivity. Conversely, women empowerment is positively correlated with the share of cattle owned by female household members. Finally, we discuss how these findings could help the development programs that focus on women.

Suggested Citation

  • Lubungu, Mary & Birner, Regina, 2021. "Gender relations in smallholder cattle production in Zambia," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 22(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wodepe:v:22:y:2021:i:c:s2452292921000230
    DOI: 10.1016/j.wdp.2021.100309
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2452292921000230
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.wdp.2021.100309?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Esther Duflo, 2003. "Grandmothers and Granddaughters: Old-Age Pensions and Intrahousehold Allocation in South Africa," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 17(1), pages 1-25, June.
    2. Marks, Sara J. & Davis, Jennifer, 2012. "Does User Participation Lead to Sense of Ownership for Rural Water Systems? Evidence from Kenya," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(8), pages 1569-1576.
    3. Edella Schlager & Elinor Ostrom, 1992. "Property-Rights Regimes and Natural Resources: A Conceptual Analysis," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 68(3), pages 249-262.
    4. Silvia Ferrari & Francisco Cribari-Neto, 2004. "Beta Regression for Modelling Rates and Proportions," Journal of Applied Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(7), pages 799-815.
    5. Jeffrey M Wooldridge, 2010. "Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 2, volume 1, number 0262232588, December.
    6. Dr.Thresiamma Varghese, 2011. "Women Empowerment in Oman: A study based on Women Empowerment Index," Far East Journal of Psychology and Business, Far East Research Centre, vol. 2(3), pages 37-53, February.
    7. Lubungu, Mary & Sitko, Nicholas J. & Hichaambwa, Munguzwe, 2015. "Analysis of Beef Value Chain in Zambia: Challenges and Opportunities of Linking Smallholders to Markets," Food Security Collaborative Working Papers 229599, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    8. Carmen Diana Deere & Cheryl Doss, 2006. "The Gender Asset Gap: What Do We Know And Why Does It Matter?," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(1-2), pages 1-50.
    9. Cheryl Doss & Chiara Kovarik & Amber Peterman & Agnes Quisumbing & Mara Bold, 2015. "Gender inequalities in ownership and control of land in Africa: myth and reality," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 46(3), pages 403-434, May.
    10. Christopher F Baum, 2008. "Stata tip 63: Modeling proportions," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 8(2), pages 299-303, June.
    11. Carmen Diana Deere & Gina E. Alvarado & Jennifer Twyman, 2012. "Gender Inequality in Asset Ownership in Latin America: Female Owners vs Household Heads," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 43(2), pages 505-530, March.
    12. Greg Seymour, 2017. "Women's empowerment in agriculture: Implications for technical efficiency in rural Bangladesh," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 48(4), pages 513-522, July.
    13. Cook, Douglas O. & Kieschnick, Robert & McCullough, B.D., 2008. "Regression analysis of proportions in finance with self selection," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 15(5), pages 860-867, December.
    14. Corinne Valdivia, 2001. "Gender, livestock assets, resource management, and food security: Lessons from the SR-CRSP," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 18(1), pages 27-39, March.
    15. Harold Demsetz, 1974. "Toward a Theory of Property Rights," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Chennat Gopalakrishnan (ed.), Classic Papers in Natural Resource Economics, chapter 8, pages 163-177, Palgrave Macmillan.
    16. Meinzen-Dick, Ruth Suseela & Johnson, Nancy & Quisumbing, Agnes R. & Njuki, Jemimah & Behrman, Julia A. & Rubin, Deborah & Peterman, Amber & Waithanji, Elizabeth, 2011. "Gender, assets, and agricultural development programs: A conceptual framework:," CAPRi working papers 99, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    17. Noora†Lisa Aberman & Julia Behrman & Regina Birner, 2018. "Gendered perceptions of power and decision†making in rural Kenya," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 36(4), pages 389-407, July.
    18. Machina, Henry & Lubungu, Mary, 2019. "Understanding intra-household gender disparities of smallholder livestock production in Zambia," Journal of Gender, Agriculture and Food Security (Agri-Gender), Africa Centre for Gender, Social Research and Impact Assessment, vol. 4(2), December.
    19. Malapit, Hazel J. & Sproule, Kathryn & Kovarik, Chiara & Meinzen-Dick, Ruth Suseela & Quisumbing, Agnes R. & Ramzan, Farzana & Hogue, Emily & Alkire, Sabina, 2014. "Measuring progress toward empowerment: Women's empowerment in agriculture index: Baseline report," IFPRI books, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), number OCLC 884924765.
    20. Bethelhem Legesse Debela, 2017. "Factors Affecting Differences in Livestock Asset Ownership Between Male- and Female-Headed Households in Northern Ethiopia," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 29(2), pages 328-347, April.
    21. Malapit, Hazel Jean L. & Quisumbing, Agnes R., 2015. "What dimensions of women’s empowerment in agriculture matter for nutrition in Ghana?," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 54-63.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kilic, Talip & Moylan, Heather & Koolwal, Gayatri, 2021. "Getting the (Gender-Disaggregated) lay of the land: Impact of survey respondent selection on measuring land ownership and rights," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    2. Isabel Brigitte Lambrecht & Kristi Mahrt & Nang Lun Kham Synt & Hnin Ei Win & Khin Zin Win, 2023. "Gender gaps in land rights: Explaining different measures and why households differ in Myanmar," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 54(5), pages 728-741, September.
    3. Dileni Gunewardena & Abdoulaye Seck, 2020. "Heterogeneity in entrepreneurship in developing countries: Risk, credit, and migration and the entrepreneurial propensity of youth and women," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(3), pages 713-725, August.
    4. Meinzen-Dick, Ruth & Quisumbing, Agnes & Doss, Cheryl & Theis, Sophie, 2019. "Women's land rights as a pathway to poverty reduction: Framework and review of available evidence," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 72-82.
    5. Reboul, E. & Guérin, I. & Nordman, C.J., 2021. "The gender of debt and credit: Insights from rural Tamil Nadu," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    6. Muntaha Rakib & Julia Anna Matz, 2016. "The Impact of Shocks on Gender-differentiated Asset Dynamics in Bangladesh," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(3), pages 377-395, March.
    7. Johnson, Nancy L. & Kovarik, Chiara & Meinzen-Dick, Ruth & Njuki, Jemimah & Quisumbing, Agnes, 2016. "Gender, Assets, and Agricultural Development: Lessons from Eight Projects," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 295-311.
    8. Meinzen-Dick, Ruth Suseela & Quisumbing, Agnes R. & Doss, Cheryl R. & Theis, Sophie, 2017. "Women’s land rights as a pathway to poverty reduction: A framework and review of available evidence," IFPRI discussion papers 1663, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    9. Feyertag, Joseph & Childress, Malcolm & Langdown, Ian & Locke, Anna & Nizalov, Denys, 2021. "How does gender affect the perceived security of land and property rights? Evidence from 33 countries," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    10. Birara Endalew & Adugnaw Anteneh & Kassahun Tasie, 2022. "Technical Efficiency of Teff Production Among Smallholder Farmers: Beta Regression Approach," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 34(2), pages 1076-1096, April.
    11. Mussa, Richard, 2015. "Catastrophic health payments in Malawi: analysis of determinants using a zero-inflated beta regression," MPRA Paper 65201, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Jesper N Wulff & Anders R Villadsen, 2020. "Keeping it within bounds: Regression analysis of proportions in international business," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 51(2), pages 244-262, March.
    13. A. Galiè & N. Teufel & L. Korir & I. Baltenweck & A. Webb Girard & P. Dominguez-Salas & K. M. Yount, 2019. "The Women’s Empowerment in Livestock Index," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 142(2), pages 799-825, April.
    14. Naidu, Sirisha C., 2013. "Legal exclusions, private wealth and livelihoods: An analysis of work time allocation in protected areas," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 82-91.
    15. Kihiu, Evelyne Nyathira & Amuakwa-Mensah, Franklin, 2021. "Agricultural market access and dietary diversity in Kenya: Gender considerations towards improved household nutritional outcomes," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    16. Francesco Mariotti & Karen Mumford & Yolanda Pena-Boquete, 2015. "Household Asset-Holding Diversification in Australia," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 48(1), pages 43-64, March.
    17. Katrina Kosec & Kamiljon Akramov & Bakhrom Mirkasimov & Jie Song & Hongdi Zhao, 2022. "Aspirations and women's empowerment: Evidence from Kyrgyzstan," Economics of Transition and Institutional Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(1), pages 101-134, January.
    18. Vijaya, Ramya M. & Lahoti, Rahul & Swaminathan, Hema, 2014. "Moving from the Household to the Individual: Multidimensional Poverty Analysis," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 70-81.
    19. Seymour, Greg & Peterman, Amber, 2018. "Context and measurement: An analysis of the relationship between intrahousehold decision making and autonomy," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 97-112.
    20. Yayan Hernuryadin & Koji Kotani & Tatsuyoshi Saijo, 2018. "Individual time preferences of married couples in a fisheries society," Working Papers SDES-2018-5, Kochi University of Technology, School of Economics and Management, revised Aug 2018.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:wodepe:v:22:y:2021:i:c:s2452292921000230. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/world-development-perspectives .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.