Gender roles in small holder dairy farming: pertinent issues on access and control over dairy farming resources in Arumeru district, Tanzania

E G Kimaro, J G Lyimo-Macha* and J N Jeckoniah**

Tropical Pesticides Research Institute, P.O. Box 3024, Arusha, Tanzania.
esthergwae@yahoo.com
* Institute of Continuing Education (ICE) Sokoine University of Agriculture, P.O Box 3014, Chuo kikuu Morogoro, Tanzania.
** Development Studies Institute, Sokoine University of Agriculture P.O. Box 3024, Chuo Kikuu, Morogoro, Tanzania.

Abstract

This paper assesses and examines gender roles, access and control over dairy farming resources, decision making and opportunities in dairy farming enterprise between women in dairy farming groups and those not. Cross sectional research design was adopted using structured questionnaires to collect information from 150 households from six villages namely Bangata, Sasi, Inshupu, Enaboishu, Sokoni II and Nkoaranga. Descriptive analysis and Chi-square were used to test the statistical significance of categorical and continuous data respectively.

The results revealed that women contribute more labour force in dairy management than men, children and hired labour. Women who were not in groups did not have a full access and control over dairy farming enterprise, this was relatively contrary to women who belonged to groups, women in groups have access and control over resources on dairy cattle and income generated through it. Furthermore, it was also observed that those women in groups were in a better position to overcome traditional practice such as their participation in decision making issues over dairy farming.  In order to improve dairy farming production local government and non-governmental organization should advocate for a change in gender roles in dairy management so as to minimize the work load burden to women which indirectly affects the level of production. Also formation of groups should be encouraged in rural communities so as to motivate women’s participation in dairy farming for sustainable livestock agriculture.

Key words: empowerment, low income, mixed farming, subsistence agriculture, women groups

Introduction

Livestock production is one of the major agricultural activities in Tanzania which have a big potential in terms of income generation, food supply and adding value to land resources (FAO 1995). It contributes approximately 8% of the total GDP and 30% of the agricultural revenues in Tanzania (Tanzania National Website, livestock 2003). Due to fall of coffee price in early 1990’s in the world market farmers were economically affected and several efforts have been taken to improve farmer’s wellbeing. Dairy production was among the sector which was encouraged to improve household income (URT 2003). It is well known that women play a major role in dairy farming including milk production, processing and marketing. However, not all women control the sale of milk and its products (IFAD 2007, Njurai et al 2007; Paudel et al 2009). Regardless of their many responsibilities, women have significantly less access to resources and services which impair increased productivity and their income earning potential. There are factors which hold women back and needs to be reversed such as lack of education, unequal property rights, exclusion in decision making and limited control over resources. For poor communities to prosper and grow, women’s needs and rights must be well addressed. An understanding of role of women farmers, importance and constraints is a prerequisite to devising policies to improve productivity and socio-economic development.

In developing countries particularly in low income including Tanzania, there is a general lack of gender specific data related to the agriculture sector. Although women plays key roles in small holder dairy farming, information on gender roles in dairy farming management, access and control over resources is lacking. This sometimes leads to problems in planning programs since official data are essential for policy makers. This study has been carried out to assess gender roles, access and control in dairy farming in Arumeru district among women dairy farmers. It also investigates if there are significant differences on access and control over dairy farming resources between women who were in groups and those not. The findings will assist policy makers in reviewing the traditional practice for the long term improvement of women’s position in rural communities so as to bring sustainable agricultural development particularly in dairy production.

Methodology

Description of the study area

The study was conducted in Arumeru District which is located in South Eastern of Arusha region. The district has an area of 2996 km² and human population reaching 515,814 according to 2002 census (URT 2003). The district receives bimodal rainfall, the long starts March to May and short rains from November to December. Average annual rainfall varies from 1000 to 4500 mm with significant daily, monthly and annual fluctuations (Arumeru District Profile 2000). The average temperature ranges from 20-35⁰C. This weather is favorable for dairy farming (Arumeru District Profile 2000). Main activities in the district are livestock keeping mainly under zero grazing and crop farming. The major crops grown are banana, coffee, maize, beans and vegetables.

Research design  

A cross sectional study design was used. To obtain the representative sample for the study, purposive sampling technique was used from four wards of east and west Arumeru. These are Bangata, Nkoaranga, Moivo, and Sokoni II. Sixteen villages were identified which includes women in dairy farming groups and those not in groups. Simple random selection was used to select the six villages out of the sixteen villages. The villages were Bangata, Sasi, Inshupu, Enaboishu, Sokoni II and Nkoaranga. From each village simple random selection was further used to select 25 women. Finally, 150 women were interviewed of which 79 were from the group while 71 did not belong to any group.

Data collection

The study was carried out from October to November 2007. Data were collected by using structured questionnaires. The questionnaires were used to collect information at household level for women in groups and those not in groups. The following information were collected:- Household characteristics, gender roles and responsibilities with respect to major dairy farming activities, control and access over dairy farming resources such as income obtained from dairy farming as well as gender participation in training and seminars. Observation of some facts was also carried out throughout the study period without asking people. Secondary data were also collected from published reports and/ or journal articles retrieved from websites.

Data analysis

Data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 15. Descriptive statistics (i.e. means, percentages, frequencies) was used to establish the profile of the respondents and the trend of distribution; chi-square was used to test the differences between variables on various categories between farmers in groups and those not in groups.

Results and Discussion

Sample characteristics

Results show that the general characteristics of respondents which include distribution of age group, marital status, education level and household size between women in groups and those not in groups were not significantly different (P>0.05). Majority of respondents in both groups were in their middle age, married and had primary education. The findings show respondents were within the economically productive age range for Tanzanians of between 15 to 64 years (Mandara 1998). Majorities were married, it is very likely marriage is highly valued and this would probably hold true for most communities in Tanzania. On the other hand marriage is one of the leading factors considered to be the cause of women having limited access to and control over resources, particularly in rural areas where the majority of women live (Mongi 2005). Primary school education level represents the majority of women in thus study which is a good finding since basic literacy and numeric is essential for efficient management of business and this literacy is sufficient for farmers when it comes to new technologies adoption (Haris 1981 & Makauki 1999).

Gender roles in dairy farming        

Results on labour contribution to the main dairy farming activities in Arumeru district at the household level are presented in Table 2. The findings show the activities performed in dairy farming enterprise. Most of these activities are performed daily, implying that dairy farming is a labour intensive project. All gender contributed at least some role in most activities. However, there was disparity in level of labour contribution between men, women and children. Men and boys were not involved in milking, their traditional practice. This is contrary with men in Nepal who mainly perform milking (Paudel et al 2009). Women in Arumeru contribute more proportion of labour and time than other household members. This is also supported by other studies (Njarui et al 2012; FAO 1995; IFAD 1999), which observed that women traditionally carry the major responsibilities for subsistence agriculture, particularly livestock and food crop production. The participation of children to dairy farming activities was low and found less than 5% of total labour for most of the activities.  This is in agreement with Njarui et al (2012) who found that  gender roles in dairy farming in Kenya and Uganda, there was  low contribution of children labour as they  need to attend school during week days and they were only available during week-ends. The similar study on gender roles conducted in Nepal found that dairy farming activities and management are jointly conducted by men and women in rural areas (Paudel et al 2009), in peri-urban Machakos Kenya men contributed more in dairy farming activities than women (Njarui et al 2012). The reason for Arumeru findings could explain the fact that livestock management roles are traditionally carried out by women among Wameru ethnic society. According to the information obtained from the District Veterinary Officer, husbands are involved in dairy production in some specific duties such as consulting veterinary services, sales or purchases of animals.

Figure 1: A woman at Nkoaranga village

According to Lane (1991), findings on feeding systems indicate that feeding, cleaning and milking of dairy animals are done mostly by women. Most of the work involving livestock management is traditionally considered as the responsibility of women.  The study done by ILRI (1997) Kenya National Dairy Development Project showed that, while 84 percent of the farms included in the study were owned by men, 84 percent of the dairy operators were women. Similarly, Beth (2001) observed that women usually provide most of the labour for stall-fed dairy cattle and other animals kept near the home, but may not realize benefits commensurate with their contribution, limiting their incentive to increase production.

Access to and control of an animal in dairy farming

Results on access to and control over animals are presented in Table 3. The findings show that there are differences in ownership and control of animals between women categories. Those who are in groups seem to have more control than their counterparts who are not in group. However, the difference was not statistically significant at (P>0.05). Although, considering the control of an animal and ownership, women in groups have more control (30.4%) than women who are not in groups (16. 9%), this is statistically significant at  (P<0.05). The probable reason could be due to the fact that majority of women in groups own dairy cows, which were given by the NGO such as Heifer Project International and Global Partners.

The findings imply that group membership likely provide ownership and control over animals in the dairy enterprise in Arumeru district. Women benefit when are involved in decision-making about the animals they manage even without legal ownership rights. A study carried by IFPRI (2001) revealed that it is common for women to operate a productive enterprise with smaller animals such as goats, sheep, poultry, and pigs, since the initial costs are lower and profits may be low, and men are less likely to interfere. Men prefer to own larger animals such as dairy cattle because they are more profitable and bring greater personal status. According to the interview conducted, the respondents revealed that several NGOs such as Global Partners and Heifer Project International (HI) have assisted women farmers to obtain dairy cows in some villages in the district at lower cost and with simple arrangements.

Findings from this study are well supported by the study conducted in Kenya by Beth (2001), who found that some livestock schemes allocate animals only to women, assuming they make decisions independently and will improve their positions by bringing wealth into the household. Beth (2001) also found that some women groups maintain legal ownership of animals and may decide to remove the animals from homes when a husband misbehaves. Women’s empowerment as well as decision-making involvement and control over resources especially large and valuable animals such as cattle is strengthened through group formation and social support among women themselves.

Access and control of income in dairy farming

Researches done by FAO (2005) in Africa, Asia and Latin America has found that improvements in household food security and nutrition are associated with women's access to and control over  income obtained at the household level and their role in household decisions making process on household expenditures. This is because women tend to spend a significantly higher proportion of their income than men on food for the family purpose. Results on access to and control of income from dairy enterprise in this study are presented in Table 4.

Findings from this study show that women in groups are better off in terms of having access to and control over income obtained from the sales of dairy products than those who are not in groups. Likewise, women in groups have more access to and control over income obtained than their respective husbands contrary to women who are not in groups. Variation observed in these results reveal that women members are relatively advantageous in the control of household resources and reduced men dominance tendencies. Following the interviews with the District Veterinary Officer, it was further noted that most of Wameru and Waarusha men are the ones who traditionally control income from dairy farming. This type of tradition promotes male dominance at the household level, there is an urgent need to change the attitude and mind set of rural communities. Men should work together with women to bring sustainable development and reducing gender inequality (Mikell 1997). Findings from this study are also supported by other studies by FAO (2005; 2011) and IFAD (1999), which found that improvements in household food security and nutrition are associated with women's control over income and their inclusion in household decision making process on expenditures and other family issues, whereas men tend to use their income for longer-term investments and entertainments. In addition, results in this study imply that when women are well involved in managing household projects, their capacity over decision making is also improved. This is supported by a study conducted by (Beth 2001) who observed that women benefit most, when they have decision-making authority about the animals they manage and milk sales even without legal ownership rights.

Access to education, training opportunities, and extension services

Women's limited access to education and training opportunities and extension services subject them into a subordinate role, to the detriment of their own development and that of society as a whole (FAO 1995). The results on the distribution of the respondent’s access to education and training opportunities as well as extension services are presented in Table 5. 

Results show that majority (75.9%) of women in groups have access to training opportunities compared to their colleagues (60.6%) who are not in groups. However, the distribution among the two groups was not statistically significant (P>0.05). Also the findings reveal that access to education opportunities and extension services is reaching more men in households whose women are not members of dairy farming groups. The difference observed in this study reveal that group membership gives women more opportunities in participation of training, workshops and seminars related to dairy farming enterprise. According to Arumeru District Veterinary Officer, women in Arumeru district who are in groups  have opportunity to attend  trainings that are  provided by livestock training centers nearby such as Tengeru Livestock Training Institute (LITI), National Artificial Insemination Centre (NAIC) and those conducted by other development agencies such as Heifer Project International and various progressive farmers in Arusha.

Conclusions

• The study has found out women still bear more burdens in this enterprise such as milking, fetching animal feeds, cleaning barn and marketing of milk products just to mention a few. It was also observed that, men and children were less involved in these activities.

• Group membership relatively enabled women to gain control and access over income obtained from dairy farming and other resources. Access and control over income was not proportional to individual’s input. It was worse for women who were not in groups whereby their men had more access and control over the income obtained from sales of dairy products.

• Women in groups were likely to get involved in several aspects such as production, management and decision-making over revenues and expenditures obtained from sales of dairy products

Recommendations

• Given the position of women in groups on access and control over dairy farming resources, women who are not yet in groups are encouraged to join or form women dairy groups. Similarly, to realize the optimal performance of these groups, several efforts such as active participation of group activities among members, more financial and technical support from NGO’s, development partners and government agencies are needed.
  
  
• The low participation of men in dairy management enterprise should be discouraged, and this will not only decrease the burden to women but also increase the level of production, sustainability and eventually increased household income.
  
  
• The policies on gender empowerment and gender mainstreaming should always  be more effective and strengthen for  sustainable development of women small holder farmers
  
  
• The government, Non-Government organization, and development partners should identify and support women’s roles as livestock owners, processors and users of livestock products while strengthening their decision-making power and capabilities. These are the key aspects in promoting economic and social empowerment of women and consequently provide a way to enable rural women to break the cycle of poverty.

Acknowledgement

The authors would like to appreciate the financial support obtained from the Tanzania Government, President’s Office Public Servant (Gender section). We are also thankful to Arumeru District staff for their cooperation in data collection exercise and to all people who were involved in proof reading of this paper.

References

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Received 15 March 2013; Accepted 20 March 2013; Published 1 May 2013

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