The Need to Improve Agricultural Extension for Women Farmers: Kenya

 The Need to Improve Agricultural Extension for Women Farmers: Kenya

Absolute poverty is dis- men in the region have, for various reasons, tended
proportionately concentrated among women, to pass on to their wives  surprise-
in rural areas, and in the agricultural sector. In- tingly little of what they Have learned.
improvements in the productivity and incomes to The focus on training men has generally been
women farmers are therefore key to a strategy tor more by default than by design. For example,
poverty reduction. She role of women in agriculture training has been copied from developed coin-
is particularly important in sub-Saharan Africa. But tries like the United States, where men do the
this is also the region that has benefited least from majority of agricultural work. There may be rel-
the Green Evolution of high-yielding crop variety- gibbous or cultural constraints on men training
is and other modem taming practices that have women, and male extension agents may simply
had such a large productivity impact in many parts be more comfortable talking to men A O
of Asia over the past hail-century.
he crucial importance of a solid agricultural soon agents have perceived women as wolves
extension program for successful rural develop farmers" rather than as farmers in their own tangent
men and increased yields has been appreciated And almost all extension agents have Dee
by development specialists for decades. Support Female agents must be trained. A major propriety
for agricultural extension has played a central role is the segregation and exclusion to women in large
in the activities of most multilateral and bilateral parts of Africa and Asia.
development agencies. Historically, agricultural he success to women in agriculture in sub-
extension programs have played a vital develop Saharan Africa Is at the very core of prospects tor
met role in the United States, one of the world's genuine development and poverty reduction. But
eat agricultural productivity success stories.
traditionally, agricultural extension programs problem has been slow. And in some countries, pro
n developing countries were aimed almost hexagram resign is Sid to reelect a bias against provide-
Elusively at training men, ever though women do ng woven win too much independence.
most or the agricultural work. in Sub-barbarian
Africa, women are responsible for well over two- been to make use of radio, audiotapes, television,
girds of staple stood production. they are also Videotapes, DVDs, and more receptively Siva
active n growing and marketing cash crops, in food ting). Women may listen to or watch the maternal
Pressing, and in animal husbandry. But women in groups in homes or village centres. Katrina Saith
Ues nave expanded in recent years as men have and her colleagues reported that female farmers
redlining migrated to urban areas and taken question extension agents in banana adopt suspects
agricultural jobs. Where men and women both they have heard discussed on the rads.
agricultural work, there still tends to be a gen
Eased division of tabor. As a result, techniques interconnected With a number or other important
to the work of men are often not relevant rural development and women in development
work ot women. Where they are relevant, issues are the logrolling Dank stray showed that most male African extend-the agricultural extension program response to the important strategy or the past 30 years.

Agricultural extension programs tor women are

1. Human capital. Women have education than productive crops. But an RIF study showed that Kenya
The bias in agricultural extension Programs women ls tut sow e same amount of Com
in some part be a bias to train the more gumption crops. anus, more is needed than pries
educated spouse, but the practice has also exact- adjustments creature under structural adjustment
programs reform must address Structural prob men on average in most rural development areas. after diversification to commercial acerbated snit relate deficiency.

2. A Appropriate technology. Because women tend sachet Dy women that Will prevent them fro
to be involved in different farm activities than responding to price signals sufficiently. A o
men, they will often have different nanotechnology 1st the larger profit share taken by the he
requirements. Most technology development a ans often not snared with his wife or wives
has been focused on acclivities of men.

None of these problems is limited to Africa, For

3. Land reform and agrarian design. On average, pE amen Diana eere, in a review of 19
wonderment on much sealer, more frag storeroom experiences,
precise.

3.minted pols than men; are less likely to have stave benighted only men. This was justly
secure ownership; and often cultivate E reforms were designed to target oy ta Den

isle soil. leis distributor is likely to be define- s were designed to targ
cient as well as distribuhonally inequitable.
4. Credit. Women have little access, it any, to Tinan a specific objective of the retorm and rural Women
cial credit, a key input in eticient agriculture are made an explicit part of the design or programs

eficiaries. Her review tound that women benefit
only in the rare instances when their well-beingis

Work requirenients. Many women who wOrk as trom the outset.
many or more hours per day as mern in agri- Taken as a whole, these points shOW why women
cultural pursuits also have to perform several farmers need the help of extension programs, It is
hours of domestic work that men do not do. also etficient to do this because or an appicaton or
The workday of a poor woman tarmer in Africa the law of diminishing returns to training for men.
has been estimated at lo to 19 hours. Ihe atten- The evidence suggests that the trickle-acrosş the-
tIon tto rkino hours, The wives-all too rarely occurs m piac

their children is lim- ory-that trained husbands will in turn train tner

1ted Dy 1ong agriculural worKLng nouS. 1he wIves-all too rarely Occurs in practice, at least in
mplicaton may be that wonmen should receive Sub-Saharan Africa.
an even higher priority for technical education
and technology development and access.

n enya, the ministry of agriculture operates
a lational extension system (NES) in concert with

As Kekha Mehra has noted, one intent of struc- 15 agricultural research efforts. Betore 1983, the
tural adjustment programs in many Afncan coun- E Worked almost exclusively with male farmers,
tries has been to encourage the shift to exportable wnlie a separatehome economics branch advised
Cash crops. But these are the crops over which men women on household and cottage industry man
tend to exercise control. A woman's profit share agement and domestic hygiene, but only peripher
arter vorKing with these crops may be as little as aly on farming matters. Research by the Institue
5Yo. But she is still responsible for grOwing con- or Levelopment Studies in Nairobi and other agen
Sumpion crops and feeding her children. Mehra cies conirmed that extension programs were muc
Conciudes that structural adjustment programs fend more lIKely to have reached men than women ta
to place even more time requirements on women es. In 1983, Kenya's training and visit (18EV) Sys
already burdened with 16-hour workdays. The tem was established with the express purpose
irony 1s that as the husband controls the cash, his training women as well as men in efhicient ag
Say in the family may actually increase as a result. Tural practices. Ihe case provides an exampie
Kemoval of agricultural price controls in Africa, necessary ingredients of progress and aiso o
allowing the prices that farmers receive for their very much remains to be accomplished.
Ops to move toward world market levels, has Ihe design of the 1&V system is basea ot pa
provided more accurate price signals to farmers alng tecnnical messages tosc fams
aa agea a switch to more economically tarmers, who are regularly visited on tneu

"contact


Unfortunately, resources are insificient to reach all 1 V-type programs received substantial

and even if the T&eV system did try to reach encouragement and financial support from the

all farmers, the qualty or tralnung woulc De poot. AS World Bank from the mid-1970s through the 1990s.
a result, only 10% of all farmers are chosen to adopt But in most countries, perrormance was aisap

advice brought to tnent in these nessages and then pointing.
to help spread this new technical knowledge by per- In 1997, Vishva Bindlish and Robert Evenson
suading other farmers in the villages to adopt them reported that T&eV-type extension programs oper
as well. Anumber of tollower tamers are expected ated in more than 30 countries in sub-Saharan

o attend meetings with 1&ev officials on the contact Africa. They concluded from their statistical evi-
farmer's land. In this way, It 15 hoped that techinical dence that the experience of "Kenya and Burkina
"diffusion'" 15 maximize m a cost-etrective man Faso shows that T&V management enhances the
ner. The selection procesS S Vtal. armers must be effectiveness of extension and that such programs
selected who are capable, likely to diligently follow support agricultural grewth and produce high
through on new intormanon, and locally respected refurns on investments. They found that "areas
so as to encourage emulanon n choosing contact served by extension have higher yields and that
farmers, 18V oftiaals meet with tarmers and con within these areas the highest yields are achieved
sult with local communiies and their leaders. In by farmers who participate directly in extension
recent yearS 18 outreach has tocused more on activities, As a result, extension heips to close the
working with tradinonal community farmer self- gap between the yields attainable with existing
help groups, which can provide greater tlexibility, technologies and those actually realized by tarm
better diffusion, and group reinforcement
At first, messages focused on procedures offer- ments in the short run, there are limits to what the
ing the prospect of significant productivity gains program can achieve without. "the development
out not requiring cash expenditure, such as ground of improved technologies that are relevant to local
orenaration, spacing, seed varieties, and pruning Conalto
P dy

ers." But they found that while this makes improve

oc hoing diffused in any

month ar

A study by Robert Evenson and Germano

inked itioc to tarm actviaes under way in the annual Mwabu found that the impact of 16EV in Kenya on
crop cycle, such as planng Or narvestng the crOps productivity farmers positive of highest but, interestingly, and lowest ability stron-

being cultivated at any 8ven po moasTed by the portion of productivity unex-
the year. The training process Duas step ysp
Smpler messages are imparted in early stages, plained by the use of farm inputs). They hypoth-
nd more complex messages, later in the program. esized that high ability overcame diminishing
Moreover, only ater farmersS see results rom tns returns to nputs, ertaps extension 15 compemen
ninal adVice and so come to trust the 1&ev mes tary with high (unobserved) management ability.
sages, are measures requiring modest cash outlays Dut tne relauvely ugn mpact on the lower-abiity
ntroduced, such as fertilizer use and crop spray alrmers is noteworthy, even if data drawing conclu-
ng, In a later stage, measures requiring Purchase or SIOns ab0ut possiole mpacis such as on poverty are
apita goods may be introduced. Increasing num notavalladie.
TS of women function otficially as contact farm
s. Even more serve unofficially in this role, as also important for promoting environmentally sus-
cr husbands farm only part time or not at all.
ne messages of the 1eV program, 1deally, are SiDility ror agncuiture, especially on more marginal
uPposed to be transmitted in both directions. 18eV. and often ecologicaly fragile lands, wamen have a
8es are supposed to gather information about customary role in traditional societies as the guard-
wen previous advice has worked in practice 1ans ot natural resources such as the water supply
ud aDout continued problems in order to guide This is also an important domain for agncultural
rcn efforts. This is in the spirit of the often extension work with women. in Kenya, the
tal prooiCris.