IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/agrhuv/v38y2021i2d10.1007_s10460-020-10160-3.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Using smartphone app collected data to explore the link between mechanization and intra-household allocation of time in Zambia

Author

Listed:
  • Thomas Daum

    (University of Hohenheim)

  • Filippo Capezzone

    (University of Hohenheim)

  • Regina Birner

    (University of Hohenheim)

Abstract

Digital tools may help to study socioeconomic aspects of agricultural development that are difficult to measure such as the effects of new policies and technologies on the intra-household allocation of time. As farm technologies target different crops and tasks, they can affect the time-use of men, women, boys, and girls differently. Development strategies that overlook such effects can have negative consequences for vulnerable household members. In this paper, the time-use patterns associated with different levels of agricultural mechanization during land preparation in smallholder farming households in Zambia were investigated. A novel data collection method was used: a pictorial smartphone application that allows real-time recording of time-use, which eliminates recall bias. Existing studies analyzing the intra-household allocation of resources often focus on adult males and females. This study paid particular attention to boys and girls as well as adults. The study addressed seasonal variations. Compositional data analysis was used to account for the co-dependence and sum constraint of time-use data. The study suggests a strong gender differentiation for land preparation activities among mechanized households; for households using manual labor, such differentiation was not found. There is some evidence that the surplus time associated with mechanization is used for off-farm and domestic work. The study cannot confirm concerns about negative second-round effects: mechanized land preparation is not associated with a higher workload for women and children during weeding and harvesting/processing. The study provides a proof-of-concept that smartphone applications can be used to collect socioeconomic data that are difficult to measure but of high relevance.

Suggested Citation

  • Thomas Daum & Filippo Capezzone & Regina Birner, 2021. "Using smartphone app collected data to explore the link between mechanization and intra-household allocation of time in Zambia," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 38(2), pages 411-429, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:agrhuv:v:38:y:2021:i:2:d:10.1007_s10460-020-10160-3
    DOI: 10.1007/s10460-020-10160-3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10460-020-10160-3
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10460-020-10160-3?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. Calogero Carletto & Dean Jolliffe & Raka Banerjee, 2015. "From Tragedy to Renaissance: Improving Agricultural Data for Better Policies," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(2), pages 133-148, February.
    2. Quisumbing, Agnes R. & Meinzen-Dick, Ruth Suseela & Raney, Terri L. & Croppenstedt, André & Behrman, Julia A. & Peterman, Amber, 2014. "Synopsis of Gender in agriculture: Closing the knowledge gap:," Issue briefs 84, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    3. Alberto Alesina & Paola Giuliano & Nathan Nunn, 2013. "On the Origins of Gender Roles: Women and the Plough," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 128(2), pages 469-530.
    4. Palacios-Lopez, Amparo & Christiaensen, Luc & Kilic, Talip, 2017. "How much of the labor in African agriculture is provided by women?," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 52-63.
    5. Doss, Cheryl, 2013. "Intrahousehold bargaining and resource allocation in developing countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6337, The World Bank.
    6. Doss, Cheryl R., 2001. "Designing Agricultural Technology for African Women Farmers: Lessons from 25 Years of Experience," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 29(12), pages 2075-2092, December.
    7. Thomas Daum & Regina Birner, 2017. "The neglected governance challenges of agricultural mechanisation in Africa – insights from Ghana," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 9(5), pages 959-979, October.
    8. Diao, Xinshen & Cossar, Frances & Houssou, Nazaire & Kolavalli, Shashidhara, 2014. "Mechanization in Ghana: Emerging demand, and the search for alternative supply models," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 168-181.
    9. Bryceson, Deborah Fahy, 2019. "Gender and generational patterns of African deagrarianization: Evolving labour and land allocation in smallholder peasant household farming, 1980–2015," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 60-72.
    10. Alicea Skye Garcia & Thomas Wanner, 2017. "Gender inequality and food security: lessons from the gender-responsive work of the International Food Policy Research Institute and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 9(5), pages 1091-1103, October.
    11. Cheryl Doss, 2013. "Intrahousehold Bargaining and Resource Allocation in Developing Countries-super-1," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 28(1), pages 52-78, February.
    12. Arthi, Vellore & Beegle, Kathleen & De Weerdt, Joachim & Palacios-López, Amparo, 2018. "Not your average job: Measuring farm labor in Tanzania," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 160-172.
    13. Esther O. Lamidi, 2019. "Household composition and experiences of food insecurity in Nigeria: the role of social capital, education, and time use," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 11(1), pages 201-218, February.
    14. Isabel Lambrecht & Monica Schuster & Sarah Asare Samwini & Laura Pelleriaux, 2018. "Changing gender roles in agriculture? Evidence from 20 years of data in Ghana," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 49(6), pages 691-710, November.
    15. Ayala Wineman & Thomas S. Jayne, 2021. "Factor Market Activity and the Inverse Farm Size-Productivity Relationship in Tanzania," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 57(3), pages 443-464, March.
    16. Xiaobing Wang & Futoshi Yamauchi & Jikun Huang, 2016. "Rising wages, mechanization, and the substitution between capital and labor: evidence from small scale farm system in China," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 47(3), pages 309-317, May.
    17. C. Mark Blackden & Quentin Wodon, 2006. "Gender, Time Use, and Poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 7214, December.
    18. Binswanger, Hans, 1986. "Agricultural Mechanization: A Comparative Historical Perspective," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 1(1), pages 27-56, January.
    19. Hiroyuki Takeshima & Alejandro Nin—Pratt & Xinshen Diao, 2013. "Mechanization and Agricultural Technology Evolution, Agricultural Intensification in Sub-Saharan Africa: Typology of Agricultural Mechanization in Nigeria," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 95(5), pages 1230-1236.
    20. Calogero Carletto & Sydney Gourlay & Paul Winters, 2015. "Editor's choice From Guesstimates to GPStimates: Land Area Measurement and Implications for Agricultural Analysis," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 24(5), pages 593-628.
    21. Kirui, Oliver Kiptoo, 2019. "The agricultural mechanization in Africa: micro-level analysis of state, drivers and effects," 2019 Sixth International Conference, September 23-26, 2019, Abuja, Nigeria 295819, African Association of Agricultural Economists (AAAE).
    22. Blackden, Mark & Wodon, Quentin, 2006. "Gender, Time Use, and Poverty: Introduction," MPRA Paper 11080, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    23. David B Lobell & George Azzari & Marshall Burke & Sydney Gourlay & Zhenong Jin & Talip Kilic & Siobhan Murray, 2020. "Eyes in the Sky, Boots on the Ground: Assessing Satellite‐ and Ground‐Based Approaches to Crop Yield Measurement and Analysis," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 102(1), pages 202-219, January.
    24. Zanello, Giacomo & Srinivasan, C.S. & Nkegbe, Paul, 2017. "Piloting the use of accelerometry devices to capture energy expenditure in agricultural and rural livelihoods: Protocols and findings from northern Ghana," Development Engineering, Elsevier, vol. 2(C), pages 114-131.
    25. Jennifer A. Ball, 2020. "Women farmers in developed countries: a literature review," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 37(1), pages 147-160, March.
    26. Greg Seymour & Hazel Malapit & Agnes Quisumbing, 2020. "Measuring Time Use in Developing Country Agriculture: Evidence from Bangladesh and Uganda," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(3), pages 169-199, July.
    27. T.S. Jayne & Jordan Chamberlin & Lulama Traub & Nicholas Sitko & Milu Muyanga & Felix K. Yeboah & Ward Anseeuw & Antony Chapoto & Ayala Wineman & Chewe Nkonde & Richard Kachule, 2016. "Africa's changing farm size distribution patterns: the rise of medium-scale farms," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 47(S1), pages 197-214, November.
    28. Adu-Baffour, Ferdinand & Daum, Thomas & Birner, Regina, 2019. "Can small farms benefit from big companies’ initiatives to promote mechanization in Africa? A case study from Zambia," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 133-145.
    29. Agnes R. Quisumbing & Ruth Meinzen-Dick & Terri L. Raney & André Croppenstedt & Julia A. Behrman & A (ed.), 2014. "Gender in Agriculture," Springer Books, Springer, edition 127, number 978-94-017-8616-4, September.
    30. Diksha Arora, 2015. "Gender Differences in Time-Poverty in Rural Mozambique," Review of Social Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 73(2), pages 196-221, June.
    31. Samuel Benin, 2015. "Impact of Ghana's agricultural mechanization services center program," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 46(S1), pages 103-117, November.
    32. Barbara Evers & Bernard Walters, 2001. "The Model of a Gender‐Segregated Low‐Income Economy Reconsidered: Evidence from Uganda," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 5(1), pages 76-88, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mehraban, Nadjia & Debela, Bethelhem Legesse & Kalsum, Ummi & Qaim, Matin, 2022. "What about her? Oil palm cultivation and intra-household gender roles," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    2. Karolin Andersson & Katarina Pettersson & Johanna Bergman Lodin, 2022. "Window dressing inequalities and constructing women farmers as problematic—gender in Rwanda’s agriculture policy," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 39(4), pages 1245-1261, December.
    3. Thomas Daum & Regina Birner, 2022. "The forgotten agriculture-nutrition link: farm technologies and human energy requirements," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 14(2), pages 395-409, April.

    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. Thomas Daum & Regina Birner, 2022. "The forgotten agriculture-nutrition link: farm technologies and human energy requirements," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 14(2), pages 395-409, April.
    2. Yukichi Mano & Kazushi Takahashi & Keijiro Otsuka, 2020. "Mechanization in land preparation and agricultural intensification: The case of rice farming in the Cote d'Ivoire," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 51(6), pages 899-908, November.
    3. Jed Friedman & Isis Gaddis & Talip Kilic & Antonio Martuscelli & Amparo Palacios-Lopez & Alberto Zezza, 2023. "The Distribution of Effort: Physical Activity, Gender Roles, and Bargaining Power in an Agrarian Setting," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 37(1), pages 93-111.
    4. Anne Jerneck, 2018. "What about Gender in Climate Change? Twelve Feminist Lessons from Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-20, February.
    5. Idelphonse O. Saliou & Afio Zannou & Augustin K. N. Aoudji & Albert N. Honlonkou, 2020. "Drivers of Mechanization in Cotton Production in Benin, West Africa," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-13, November.
    6. Daum, Thomas & Villalba, Roberto & Anidi, Oluwakayode & Mayienga, Sharon Masakhwe & Gupta, Saurabh & Birner, Regina, 2021. "Uber for tractors? Opportunities and challenges of digital tools for tractor hire in India and Nigeria," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    7. Xiaoshi Zhou & Wanglin Ma & Gucheng Li, 2018. "Draft Animals, Farm Machines and Sustainable Agricultural Production: Insight from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-16, August.
    8. Diksha Arora, 2014. "Gender Differences in Time Poverty in Rural Mozambique," Working Paper Series, Department of Economics, University of Utah 2014_05, University of Utah, Department of Economics.
    9. Sarah Eissler & Jessica Heckert & Emily Myers & Greg Seymour & Sheela Sinharoy & Kathryn Yount, 2022. "Measuring Women's Empowerment: Gender and Time‐use Agency in Benin, Malawi and Nigeria," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 53(5), pages 1010-1034, September.
    10. Zhou, Xiaoshi & Ma, Wanglin, 2021. "Effects of Agricultural Mechanization on Land Productivity: Evidence from China," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 315143, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    11. Aryal, Jeetendra Prakash & Rahut, Dil Bahadur & Thapa, Ganesh & Simtowe, Franklin, 2021. "Mechanisation of small-scale farms in South Asia: Empirical evidence derived from farm households survey," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    12. Maligalig, Rio L. & Demont, Matty & Umberger, Wendy J. & Peralta, Alexandra, 2017. "Intrahousehold decision making on rice varietal trait improvements: Using experiments to estimate gender influence," 2017 Annual Meeting, July 30-August 1, Chicago, Illinois 258522, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    13. Qanti, Sara Ratna & Peralta, Alexandra & Zeng, Di, 2021. "Social Norms and Perception on Women's Participation in Agricultural Decisions: The Case of West Java, Indonesia," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 314984, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    14. Takeshima, Hiroyuki & Houssou, Nazaire & Diao, Xinshen, 2018. "Effects of tractor ownership on returns-to-scale in agriculture: Evidence from maize in Ghana," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 33-49.
    15. Rieko Shibata & Sarah Cardey & Peter Dorward, 2020. "Gendered Intra‐Household Decision‐Making Dynamics in Agricultural Innovation Processes: Assets, Norms and Bargaining Power," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(7), pages 1101-1125, October.
    16. Lambrecht, Isabel Brigitte, 2016. "“As a Husband I Will Love, Lead, and Provide.” Gendered Access to Land in Ghana," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 188-200.
    17. Agénor, Pierre-Richard & Agénor, Madina, 2023. "Access to infrastructure and women’s time allocation: Implications for growth and gender equality," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    18. Komatsu, Hitomi & Malapit, Hazel Jean L. & Theis, Sophie, 2018. "Does women’s time in domestic work and agriculture affect women’s and children’s dietary diversity? Evidence from Bangladesh, Nepal, Cambodia, Ghana, and Mozambique," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 256-270.
    19. Belton, Ben & Win, Myat Thida & Zhang, Xiaobo & Filipski, Mateusz, 2021. "The rapid rise of agricultural mechanization in Myanmar," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    20. Jules Gazeaud & Victor Stephane, 2023. "Productive Workfare? Evidence from Ethiopia's Productive Safety Net Program," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 105(1), pages 265-290, January.

    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:spr:agrhuv:v:38:y:2021:i:2:d:10.1007_s10460-020-10160-3. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.