promoting gender equitable opportunities in agricultural ... - weman

Scott Wallace/The World BankFrameworkmanagers for men who have leftthe farm to seek wage employmentelsewhere or who have full-timeemployment elsewhere.Yet in many societies, people assumethat only men are the farmers or thatonly men are the clients of serviceproviders. These beliefs reduce thepotential client base for providers,contribute to poor targeting, andinterfere in the efficient channeling ofgoods and services from provider toclient. Assumptions about women’slack of competence as farmers alsoundermine an understanding of theresponsibilities women take on asfarm managers in many countries.Women own and manage manyinformal and formal businesses,but perceptions that their roles aresecondary impede their access toa range of opportunities to buildsocial capital and new clients.Perceptions about women businessowners affect their interactionswith banks, government officials,potential buyers, and peers. InCambodia, women are oftenconsidered to have lower statusthan men, which makes it difficultfor women business leaders to betaken seriously. Although womenmanage the day-to-day operationsand decision-making in many familyenterprises in Vietnam, it is stillimportant that husbands or othermen family members are perceivedto be the decision-makers. 21Beliefs about men andwomen as associationmembersSocial perceptions about genderroles can limit women’s involvementin associations. At the start ofan agricultural project in Albania,social attitudes toward womenroutinely limited their participationin project activities, includingtheir membership in producerassociations. Men, in their roles ashousehold heads, were assumed tobe primary decision-makers for allthe enterprises of farming families.Although women met project criteriafor inclusion, and studies revealedthey often owned enterprises and/or jointly managed farm enterpriseswith their husbands, few effortswere made initially to reach out tothem. 22Beliefs about appropriateworkBeliefs about appropriate work andworkplaces for men and womenshape the allocation of labor eventhough they create distortions andinefficiencies in the labor market. 23Dolan and Sorby argue that beliefsand assumptions about womencontribute to the congregation ofwomen into unskilled positions withinprocessing plants. They suggest thatthe feminization of tasks is rooted in“a number of stylized assumptionsthat equate production imperativesof quality, consistency and speedwith ostensibly ‘feminine’ traits ofdexterity and conscientiousness.” 24For example, in packhousesassociated with export-orientedhigh-value horticulture, womenwere hired to clean, cut, grade, sort,pack, seal, and weigh produce. Men,however, were hired as electriciansand mechanics. In Egypt, differenceswere based on cultural perceptionsthat linked women’s experiencePROMOTING GENDER EQUITABLE OPPORTUNITIES IN AGRICULTURAL VALUE CHAINS 22