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Gender differentiation of farmers' knowledge, trait preferences and its impacts on sorghum and finger millet seed systems of Uganda

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This poster was presented by Hellen Opie (National Agricultural Research Organization), as part of the Annual Scientific Conference hosted by the University of Canberra and co-sponsored by the University of Canberra, the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and CGIAR Collaborative Platform for Gender Research. The event took place on April 2-4, 2019 in Canberra, Australia. Read more: https://www.canberra.edu.au/research/faculty-research-centres/aisc/seeds-of-change and https://gender.cgiar.org/annual-conference-2019/

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Gender diļ¬€erentiation of farmersā€™ knowledge, trait preferences and itā€™s impacts on sorghum and ļ¬nger millet seed systems of Uganda Opie, Hellen*1; Anguria, PaulĀ¹; Kalule Okello, DavidĀ¹; Sebatta, ChristopherĀ² ; Njuguna-Mungai, EstherĀ³ 1National Agricultural Research Organization- National Semi-Arid Resources Research Institute, P.O Box 56, Soroti, Uganda 2College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Makerere University Kampala, P.O Box 7062, Kampala, Uganda 3International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics-Kenya, P.O Box 39063, Nairobi, Kenya Corresponding author: hellenop@gmail.com; h.opie@naro.go.ug Introduction In Sub Saharan Africa, both women and men play an important role in managing the seed grown by their households (GRAIN & AFSA, 2018). They tend to have distinct knowledge and preferences for choosing seeds/varieties; a result of their unique gender roles (World Bank, FAO, IFAD, 2009). They often select seeds associated with preferred ā€˜traitsā€™. For sustainable and equitable benefits from farming, mainstreaming gender has been of utmost importance in research projects in Sub Saharan Africa. A study to understand farmersā€™ status of knowledge on the sorghum and finger millet varieties grown as well as their associated traits was carried out in North and East Uganda. The main objective was to establish the existing gender disparity of farmersā€™ knowledge levels about sorghum and finger millet seeds, important traits farmers look and seed/variety change behavior at the farm. We also. planned to investigate if there is a correlation between the knowledge and adoption decision and if/how it intersects with gender identities. Materials and methods Using a mixed methods approach, both qualitative and quantitative data were collected from four districts in Northern and Eastern Uganda. A qualitative study was designed using a vignette based on a life of married couple in the community that was presented to men and women farmers to guide in-depth discussions on knowledge, decisions, seed choice, important varietal traits associated with the selected varieties, as well as seed/variety replacement decisions and behavior. Men and women farmers of different ages (youth below 25 years, mature between 26 and 49, and seniors above 50years) were interviewed through a series of 48 Focus Group Discussions. Quantitative data was randomly collected from 280 (55% women) sorghum producing households and 180 (54% women) households for finger millet using a semi-structured questionnaire ā— It takes on average 6-8 years for both women and men farmers of both crops to become aware of released varieties indicating a communication gap. ā— Women take a much shorter time of 1 to 2 years to adopt improved sorghum and finger millet varieties once they become aware of them. ā— Correlation analysis reveals a significant positive correlation between awareness of varieties and adoption by women farmers especially ā— Earliness, high yield, drought tolerance, resistance to storage pests and culinary traits such as sweet taste are of importance to both men and women farmers. ā— Traits that are related to processing of grains are of importance to women farmers ā— Men are more concerned about economic value derived from the crop and will choose a variety that has an established market outlet Seed/Variety replacement behavior ā— Men and Women farmers are aware that after some time, seed/variety needs to be replaced (especially for improved varieties) ā— Evidenced by loss of uniformity in seed size, color and poor yields. ā— Replacement is attributed to seed stock losses, existence of market demand, poor yield performance and availability of seed ā— In practice, seed replacement is not often done unless there is a total loss of the seed/variety Recommendation and Conclusion ā— Breeding and seed systems programs need to ā— Understand the gendered preferences of farmers so as to guide varietal development and ā— Design gendered communication models for effective dissemination of variety information to enhance adoption. Literature cited GRAIN and AFSA, 2018: The real seeds producers: Small-scale farmers save, use, share and enhance the seed diversity of the crops that feed Africa. https://www.grain.org/e/6035 The World Bank, Food and Agriculture Organization, and International Fund for Agricultural Development., 2009: Gender in agriculture sourcebook. p.cm. ISBN 978-0-8213-7587-7 ā€” ISBN 978-0-8213-7588-4 (electronic) Acknowledgments: The study is based on research work carried out with financial support from the CGIAR Collaborative Platform for Gender Research and the Tropical Legumes III project. We also acknowledge the support of our colleagues and partners highlighted below: Results Farmer knowledge of sorghum and ļ¬nger millet seeds/varieties Gender distribution of farmers that have no information on improved sorghum varieties Seremi 2(F. Millet) Pese 1(F. Millet) Serena Sekedo Epuripuri Seso 3 Seso 2 Seso 1 Narosorg 1 Male Female 0 20 40 60 80 NASOROG1 SESO1 SESO2 SESO3 Epuripuri Sekedo Serena Pese1(F.M) Seremi2(F.M) Varieties/ year of release 2016 2011 2011 2011 1995 1990 1990 1996 2011 No (%) Yes (%) 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Percentage. Farmer Knowledge of Improved sorghum variety information Sorghum High yield Early maturity Easy to thresh Easy to gring Sweet taste Not itch when threshing Less chaļ¬€ Flour quality (swelling characteristic) size of grain Marketability Resistane to striga Drought tolerance Pest and disease resistance Finger millet Flour quality (swelling ability) Bright red color (market trait) Brewing quality Easy to thresh Less chaļ¬€ Early maturity Shatter resistance Trait Sex Scale of ImportanceWomen Men Important Important Important Important Important Important Important Important Very Important Very Important Very Important Very Important Very Important Very Important Very Important Very Important Very Important Very Important Very Important Very Important Time between variety release and First awareness Time between variety release and First adoption Time between variety Awareness and First adoption Time between variety release and First awareness Time between variety release and Time adoption Time between variety Awareness and First adoption Men Women P-valueMean 8.05 5.60 2.01 6.50 1.00 1.00 7.52 7.50 3.57 7.50 7.00 1.82 0.62 0.07 0.01 0.89 0.42 0.25 Figure 2: A woman threshing and separating sorghum seed from the chaff Figure 1: Finger millet and sorghum crops Most farmers do not have sufficient knowledge of improved sorghum varieties. Women farmers are the most less informed about the improved varieties compared to men Information access and adoption of improved varieties Farmer preferred traits for sorghum and ļ¬nger millet

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Gender differentiation of farmers' knowledge, trait preferences and its impacts on sorghum and finger millet seed systems of Uganda

  • 1. Gender diļ¬€erentiation of farmersā€™ knowledge, trait preferences and itā€™s impacts on sorghum and ļ¬nger millet seed systems of Uganda Opie, Hellen*1; Anguria, PaulĀ¹; Kalule Okello, DavidĀ¹; Sebatta, ChristopherĀ² ; Njuguna-Mungai, EstherĀ³ 1National Agricultural Research Organization- National Semi-Arid Resources Research Institute, P.O Box 56, Soroti, Uganda 2College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Makerere University Kampala, P.O Box 7062, Kampala, Uganda 3International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics-Kenya, P.O Box 39063, Nairobi, Kenya Corresponding author: hellenop@gmail.com; h.opie@naro.go.ug Introduction In Sub Saharan Africa, both women and men play an important role in managing the seed grown by their households (GRAIN & AFSA, 2018). They tend to have distinct knowledge and preferences for choosing seeds/varieties; a result of their unique gender roles (World Bank, FAO, IFAD, 2009). They often select seeds associated with preferred ā€˜traitsā€™. For sustainable and equitable benefits from farming, mainstreaming gender has been of utmost importance in research projects in Sub Saharan Africa. A study to understand farmersā€™ status of knowledge on the sorghum and finger millet varieties grown as well as their associated traits was carried out in North and East Uganda. The main objective was to establish the existing gender disparity of farmersā€™ knowledge levels about sorghum and finger millet seeds, important traits farmers look and seed/variety change behavior at the farm. We also. planned to investigate if there is a correlation between the knowledge and adoption decision and if/how it intersects with gender identities. Materials and methods Using a mixed methods approach, both qualitative and quantitative data were collected from four districts in Northern and Eastern Uganda. A qualitative study was designed using a vignette based on a life of married couple in the community that was presented to men and women farmers to guide in-depth discussions on knowledge, decisions, seed choice, important varietal traits associated with the selected varieties, as well as seed/variety replacement decisions and behavior. Men and women farmers of different ages (youth below 25 years, mature between 26 and 49, and seniors above 50years) were interviewed through a series of 48 Focus Group Discussions. Quantitative data was randomly collected from 280 (55% women) sorghum producing households and 180 (54% women) households for finger millet using a semi-structured questionnaire ā— It takes on average 6-8 years for both women and men farmers of both crops to become aware of released varieties indicating a communication gap. ā— Women take a much shorter time of 1 to 2 years to adopt improved sorghum and finger millet varieties once they become aware of them. ā— Correlation analysis reveals a significant positive correlation between awareness of varieties and adoption by women farmers especially ā— Earliness, high yield, drought tolerance, resistance to storage pests and culinary traits such as sweet taste are of importance to both men and women farmers. ā— Traits that are related to processing of grains are of importance to women farmers ā— Men are more concerned about economic value derived from the crop and will choose a variety that has an established market outlet Seed/Variety replacement behavior ā— Men and Women farmers are aware that after some time, seed/variety needs to be replaced (especially for improved varieties) ā— Evidenced by loss of uniformity in seed size, color and poor yields. ā— Replacement is attributed to seed stock losses, existence of market demand, poor yield performance and availability of seed ā— In practice, seed replacement is not often done unless there is a total loss of the seed/variety Recommendation and Conclusion ā— Breeding and seed systems programs need to ā— Understand the gendered preferences of farmers so as to guide varietal development and ā— Design gendered communication models for effective dissemination of variety information to enhance adoption. Literature cited GRAIN and AFSA, 2018: The real seeds producers: Small-scale farmers save, use, share and enhance the seed diversity of the crops that feed Africa. https://www.grain.org/e/6035 The World Bank, Food and Agriculture Organization, and International Fund for Agricultural Development., 2009: Gender in agriculture sourcebook. p.cm. ISBN 978-0-8213-7587-7 ā€” ISBN 978-0-8213-7588-4 (electronic) Acknowledgments: The study is based on research work carried out with financial support from the CGIAR Collaborative Platform for Gender Research and the Tropical Legumes III project. We also acknowledge the support of our colleagues and partners highlighted below: Results Farmer knowledge of sorghum and ļ¬nger millet seeds/varieties Gender distribution of farmers that have no information on improved sorghum varieties Seremi 2(F. Millet) Pese 1(F. Millet) Serena Sekedo Epuripuri Seso 3 Seso 2 Seso 1 Narosorg 1 Male Female 0 20 40 60 80 NASOROG1 SESO1 SESO2 SESO3 Epuripuri Sekedo Serena Pese1(F.M) Seremi2(F.M) Varieties/ year of release 2016 2011 2011 2011 1995 1990 1990 1996 2011 No (%) Yes (%) 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Percentage. Farmer Knowledge of Improved sorghum variety information Sorghum High yield Early maturity Easy to thresh Easy to gring Sweet taste Not itch when threshing Less chaļ¬€ Flour quality (swelling characteristic) size of grain Marketability Resistane to striga Drought tolerance Pest and disease resistance Finger millet Flour quality (swelling ability) Bright red color (market trait) Brewing quality Easy to thresh Less chaļ¬€ Early maturity Shatter resistance Trait Sex Scale of ImportanceWomen Men Important Important Important Important Important Important Important Important Very Important Very Important Very Important Very Important Very Important Very Important Very Important Very Important Very Important Very Important Very Important Very Important Time between variety release and First awareness Time between variety release and First adoption Time between variety Awareness and First adoption Time between variety release and First awareness Time between variety release and Time adoption Time between variety Awareness and First adoption Men Women P-valueMean 8.05 5.60 2.01 6.50 1.00 1.00 7.52 7.50 3.57 7.50 7.00 1.82 0.62 0.07 0.01 0.89 0.42 0.25 Figure 2: A woman threshing and separating sorghum seed from the chaff Figure 1: Finger millet and sorghum crops Most farmers do not have sufficient knowledge of improved sorghum varieties. Women farmers are the most less informed about the improved varieties compared to men Information access and adoption of improved varieties Farmer preferred traits for sorghum and ļ¬nger millet