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Gender, control, and crop choice in northern Mozambique

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  • Alan Brauw

Abstract

Women play an important role in the agricultural production process in developing countries, yet their role in making decisions about what to grow and implications for household welfare remains poorly understood. In this article, I study women's empowerment in northern Mozambique as it relates to agriculture, considering in particular the factors associated with women managing the plots that they nominally control. Women control about 30% of the plots in the data, but only manage about 70% of those plots. Using a unique panel data set, I find that women are more likely to manage plots when households have had historic access to off-farm labor, typically completed by men. When women manage plots, they tend to grow crops with less complicated production techniques and are less likely to grow the main area cash crop. However, conditional on historic access to off-farm labor their farm incomes are the same as among men.

Suggested Citation

  • Alan Brauw, 2015. "Gender, control, and crop choice in northern Mozambique," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 46(3), pages 435-448, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:agecon:v:46:y:2015:i:3:p:435-448
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    8. Anna Josephson, 2025. "Intra-household management of resources: evidence from Malawi," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 23(1), pages 165-194, March.
    9. Hoffmann, Vivian & Moser, Christine & Saak, Alexander, 2019. "Food safety in low and middle-income countries: The evidence through an economic lens," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 1-1.
    10. Teresa Cappelli & Luca Tiberti & Elisa Ticci, 2023. "Climate, women's resilience and mediating channels in rural Benin," Working Papers - Economics wp2023_08.rdf, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Scienze per l'Economia e l'Impresa.
    11. Francis Tsiboe & Yacob A. Zereyesus & Jennie S. Popp & Evelyn Osei, 2018. "The Effect of Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture on Household Nutrition and Food Poverty in Northern Ghana," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 138(1), pages 89-108, July.
    12. Mkupete Jaah Mkupete & Jorge Davalos, 2025. "Implications of climate‐smart agriculture technology adoption on women's productivity and food security in Tanzania," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 56(2), pages 247-267, March.
    13. Md. Wakilur Rahman & Md. Salauddin Palash & Hasneen Jahan & Shokhrukh-Mirzo Jalilov & Mohammed Mainuddin, 2020. "An Empirical Investigation of Men’s Views of Women’s Contribution to Farming in Northwest Bangladesh," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-21, April.
    14. 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).
    15. Rachel C Voss & Zachary M. Gitonga & Jason Donovan & Mariana Garcia-Medina & Pauline Muindi, 2024. "Can I speak to the manager? The gender dynamics of decision-making in Kenyan maize plots," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 41(1), pages 205-224, March.
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    17. Balayar, Ramesh & Mazur, Robert, 2021. "Women’s decision-making roles in vegetable production, marketing and income utilization in Nepal’s hills communities," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 21(C).

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