Gendered access to productive resources – evidence from small holder farmers in Awutu Senya West District of Ghana

Differential access to productive agricultural resources stifles agricultural growth, nevertheless, this persists in developing countries. This study uses the feminist political economy to examine the relationship between gender and access to agricultural resources among maize farmers in Ghana. The...

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Main Authors: Daniel Adu Ankrah, Comfort Y. Freeman, Albert Afful
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2020-11-01
Series:Scientific African
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468227620303410
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spelling doaj-770e890d699547b9bff15f876eac3e562020-12-25T05:11:29ZengElsevierScientific African2468-22762020-11-0110e00604Gendered access to productive resources – evidence from small holder farmers in Awutu Senya West District of GhanaDaniel Adu Ankrah0Comfort Y. Freeman1Albert Afful2Corresponding author.; University of Ghana, College of Basic and Applied Sciences, School of Agriculture, Department of Agricultural Extension, P.O. Box LG 68, Legon - Accra, GhanaUniversity of Ghana, College of Basic and Applied Sciences, School of Agriculture, Department of Agricultural Extension, P.O. Box LG 68, Legon - Accra, GhanaUniversity of Ghana, College of Basic and Applied Sciences, School of Agriculture, Department of Agricultural Extension, P.O. Box LG 68, Legon - Accra, GhanaDifferential access to productive agricultural resources stifles agricultural growth, nevertheless, this persists in developing countries. This study uses the feminist political economy to examine the relationship between gender and access to agricultural resources among maize farmers in Ghana. The research employed mixed methods involving the use of a survey instrument, focus group discussions and key informant interviews. The focus group discussions and key informant interviews involved 40 individuals. A cross-sectional survey of 80 farmers was undertaken using simple random and purposive sampling. The purposive sampling technique was used to select 5 out of 7 operational zones in the Awutu Senya West District. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 24 and NVivo software packages. The findings showed that access to resources such as land, agricultural extension services and information remained gendered. Whereas, access to credit, Information Communication Technology (ICT) and labour remained ungendered. The gendered and ungendered access to productive resources intersects with class, age, education and socio-cultural norms in shaping access to and control over resources. The study recommends that agricultural advisory services must prioritize women of low educational background and class who find themselves in patrilineal societies. This should be done from an intersectional gendered perspective taking into cognizance men and women differential access to productive resources to bridge existing gender gaps in context.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468227620303410GenderMaizeDifferential accessAgricultural resourcesFeminist political ecology
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Daniel Adu Ankrah
Comfort Y. Freeman
Albert Afful
spellingShingle Daniel Adu Ankrah
Comfort Y. Freeman
Albert Afful
Gendered access to productive resources – evidence from small holder farmers in Awutu Senya West District of Ghana
Scientific African
Gender
Maize
Differential access
Agricultural resources
Feminist political ecology
author_facet Daniel Adu Ankrah
Comfort Y. Freeman
Albert Afful
author_sort Daniel Adu Ankrah
title Gendered access to productive resources – evidence from small holder farmers in Awutu Senya West District of Ghana
title_short Gendered access to productive resources – evidence from small holder farmers in Awutu Senya West District of Ghana
title_full Gendered access to productive resources – evidence from small holder farmers in Awutu Senya West District of Ghana
title_fullStr Gendered access to productive resources – evidence from small holder farmers in Awutu Senya West District of Ghana
title_full_unstemmed Gendered access to productive resources – evidence from small holder farmers in Awutu Senya West District of Ghana
title_sort gendered access to productive resources – evidence from small holder farmers in awutu senya west district of ghana
publisher Elsevier
series Scientific African
issn 2468-2276
publishDate 2020-11-01
description Differential access to productive agricultural resources stifles agricultural growth, nevertheless, this persists in developing countries. This study uses the feminist political economy to examine the relationship between gender and access to agricultural resources among maize farmers in Ghana. The research employed mixed methods involving the use of a survey instrument, focus group discussions and key informant interviews. The focus group discussions and key informant interviews involved 40 individuals. A cross-sectional survey of 80 farmers was undertaken using simple random and purposive sampling. The purposive sampling technique was used to select 5 out of 7 operational zones in the Awutu Senya West District. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 24 and NVivo software packages. The findings showed that access to resources such as land, agricultural extension services and information remained gendered. Whereas, access to credit, Information Communication Technology (ICT) and labour remained ungendered. The gendered and ungendered access to productive resources intersects with class, age, education and socio-cultural norms in shaping access to and control over resources. The study recommends that agricultural advisory services must prioritize women of low educational background and class who find themselves in patrilineal societies. This should be done from an intersectional gendered perspective taking into cognizance men and women differential access to productive resources to bridge existing gender gaps in context.
topic Gender
Maize
Differential access
Agricultural resources
Feminist political ecology
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468227620303410
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AT albertafful genderedaccesstoproductiveresourcesevidencefromsmallholderfarmersinawutusenyawestdistrictofghana
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