Orr, A and Kambalame, R and Porázik, P (2021) The discipline of context: commercializing a “women’s crop” in Southern Malawi. Gender, Technology and Development, 25 (3). pp. 251-274. ISSN 0971-8524
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Commercialization may disempower women if men take control of “women’s crops”. We tested this hypothesis for pigeonpea with a sample of 175 married households in Phalombe district, Southern Malawi. Commercialization did not change women’s control over decision-making for pigeonpea. An experimental game was used to identify preferences for the intra-household distribution of income at two different levels of income from pigeonpea. At both low and high levels of income women and men both preferred to pool income rather than have separate shares. The allocation of income between investment and consumption did not differ between women and men, nor when wives played independently or together with their husbands. Women were only willing to accept a higher income from pigeonpea if this increase was shared equally with their husbands. We conclude that the commercialization of pigeonpea will not disempower women. A matrilineal system of inheritance and matrilocal marriage strengthen the bargaining power of women in Southern Malawi. Context determines who wins from commercialization.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Divisions: | Research Program : East & Southern Africa |
| CRP: | UNSPECIFIED |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Gender, commercialization, pigeonpea, Malawi |
| Subjects: | Mandate crops > Pigeonpea Others > Gender Research Others > Malawi |
| Depositing User: | Mr Nagaraju T |
| Date Deposited: | 09 Jul 2024 05:54 |
| Last Modified: | 09 Jul 2024 05:54 |
| URI: | http://oar.icrisat.org/id/eprint/12749 |
| Official URL: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/097185... |
| Projects: | UNSPECIFIED |
| Funders: | UNSPECIFIED |
| Acknowledgement: | We thank the Sukamphete Pigeonpea Growers’ Cooperative which facilitated access to farmers and the farmers themselves who patiently answered our questions; Joachim Weber for suggestions to improve the questionnaire; Edward Bikketi and Sheena Orr for literature; and Zoltan Tiba for organizing the logistics of the household survey. We are grateful to two anonymous reviewers for helpful criticism. The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the UK government’s official policies or the institutions with which they are affiliated. |
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