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Are women less productive farmers ? how markets and risk affect fertilizer use, productivity, and measured gender effects in Uganda

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  • Larson,Donald F.
  • Savastano,Sara
  • Murray,Siobhan
  • Palacios-Lopez,Amparo
  • Larson,Donald F.
  • Savastano,Sara
  • Murray,Siobhan
  • Palacios-Lopez,Amparo

Abstract

African governments and international development groups see boosting productivity on smallholder farms as key to reducing rural poverty and safeguarding the food security of farming and non-farming households. Prompting smallholder farmers to use more fertilizer has been a key tactic. Closing the productivity gap between male and female farmers has been another avenue toward achieving the same goal. The results in this paper suggest the two are related. Fertilizer use and maize yields among smallholder farmers in Uganda are increased by improved access to markets and extension services, and reduced by ex ante risk-mitigating production decisions. Standard ordinary least squares regression results indicate that gender matters as well; however, the measured productivity gap between male and female farmers disappears when gender is included in a list of determinants meant to capture the indirect effects of market and extension access.

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  • Larson,Donald F. & Savastano,Sara & Murray,Siobhan & Palacios-Lopez,Amparo & Larson,Donald F. & Savastano,Sara & Murray,Siobhan & Palacios-Lopez,Amparo, 2015. "Are women less productive farmers ? how markets and risk affect fertilizer use, productivity, and measured gender effects in Uganda," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7241, The World Bank.
  • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:7241
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    2. Burke, William J. & Jayne, T.S., 2021. "Disparate access to quality land and fertilizers explain Malawi’s gender yield gap," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    3. João Morgado & Vincenzo Salvucci, 2016. "Gender divide in agricultural productivity in Mozambique," WIDER Working Paper Series 176, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    4. Larson,Donald F. & Muraoka,Rie & Otsuka,Keijiro, 2016. "On the central role of small farms in African rural development strategies," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7710, The World Bank.
    5. Dsouza, Alwin & Mishra, Ashok. K., 2016. "Adoption and Abandonment of Conservation Technologies in Developing Economies: The Case of South Asia," 2016 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Boston, Massachusetts 235243, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.

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    Gender and Development; Climate Change and Agriculture; Crops and Crop Management Systems; Food Security; Inequality; Armed Conflict;
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