Women Farmers and Agricultural Innovation: Marital Status and Normative Expectations in Rural Ethiopia

cg.contributor.affiliationInternational Maize and Wheat Improvement Centeren
cg.contributor.affiliationUniversity of Münsteren
cg.contributor.affiliationWageningen University & Researchen
cg.contributor.crpMaize
cg.contributor.crpWheat
cg.contributor.donorBill & Melinda Gates Foundationen
cg.coverage.countryEthiopia
cg.coverage.iso3166-alpha2ET
cg.coverage.regionEastern Africa
cg.creator.identifierLone Badstue: 0000-0001-8848-7498en
cg.creator.identifierPatti Petesch: 0000-0001-6444-9032en
cg.creator.identifierFarnworth, C.R.: 0000-0002-2263-865Xen
cg.howPublishedFormally Publisheden
cg.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.3390/su12239847en
cg.isijournalISI Journalen
cg.issn2071-1050en
cg.issue23en
cg.journalSustainabilityen
cg.volume12en
dc.contributor.authorBadstue, Lone B.en
dc.contributor.authorPetesch, Pattien
dc.contributor.authorFarnworth, Cathy Rozelen
dc.contributor.authorRoeven, Laraen
dc.contributor.authorHailemariam, Mahleten
dc.date.accessioned2022-08-31T15:56:07Zen
dc.date.available2022-08-31T15:56:07Zen
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/121042
dc.titleWomen Farmers and Agricultural Innovation: Marital Status and Normative Expectations in Rural Ethiopiaen
dcterms.abstractSustainable agricultural development depends on female and male smallholders being effective farmers. This includes the ability to access or control resources and make the best decisions possible agro-ecologically, economically, and socially. Traditionally, gendered studies on innovation practice focus on female- versus male-headed households. In this paper, we focus on married women in acknowledged male-headed households and women heading their own households to examine how marital status influences women’s capacity to innovate in their rural livelihoods. Using data from eight community case studies in Ethiopia, we used variable-oriented and contextualized case-oriented analysis to understand factors which promote or constrain women’s innovative capacities. We use Kabeer’s Resources–Agency–Achievements framework to structure our findings. Single women are more likely to own land and experience control over their production decisions and expenditures than married women, but engage in considerable struggle to obtain resources that should be theirs according to the law. Even when land is secured, customary norms often hamper women’s effective use of land and their ability to innovate. Still, some single women do succeed. Married women can innovate successfully provided they are in a collaborative relationship with their husbands. Finally, we find that gender-based violence limits women’s achievements. The article concludes with recommendations.en
dcterms.accessRightsOpen Access
dcterms.audienceScientistsen
dcterms.available2020-11-25en
dcterms.bibliographicCitationBadstue, L.; Petesch, P.; Farnworth, C.R.; Roeven, L.; Hailemariam, M. 2020. Women Farmers and Agricultural Innovation: Marital Status and Normative Expectations in Rural Ethiopia. Sustainability 12, 9847.en
dcterms.issued2020-11en
dcterms.languageen
dcterms.licenseCC-BY-4.0
dcterms.publisherMDPIen
dcterms.subjectgenderen
dcterms.subjectwomenen
dcterms.subjectagricultureen
dcterms.typeJournal Article

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