Horticulture holds great potential for increasing household income, nutrition and health status as well

as increase earnings from export, yet this sector is largely under-developed in Africa. High levels of
postharvest losses reduce the potential for improving livelihoods. A wide diversity of vegetables and
fruits are found in sub-Saharan Africa with both males and females involved in producing, processing,
marketing and utilization of different types of products. To make any meaningful improvement in the
horticulture sector and target those who need to use improved strategies and inputs, it is necessary to
understand gender roles along the horticulture value chains. Gender is a cross-cutting issue, relevant
to any aspect of development, to any sector of the economy and to any area of agriculture. Gender
roles at the household and community levels and the ability of both males and females to meet their
responsibilities are also crucially important for meeting household needs.

In this paper we examine the gender implications in modern horticulture supply chains with
a main focus on Africa. We conceptualize the various mechanisms through which women are
directly affected by the emergence of modern supply chains, we review existing empirical
evidence and add new survey-based quantitative evidence from two studies of high-value
horticulture supply chains in Senegal. Our results suggest that the growth of modern
horticulture supply chains has been associated with direct beneficial effects for rural women
and reduced gender inequalities in rural areas. We find that that women benefit more and
more directly from large-scale estate production and agro-industrial processing, and the
creation of employment in these modern agro-industries than from high-value smallholder
contract-farming. In addition, we identify several additional unresolved issues where
conclusive empirical evidence is still lacking, or where complex causal links of direct and
indirect effects are not completely understood yet.

However, the emergence of modern supply chains is profoundly changing the way food is
produced and traded in developing countries, with important effects for rural households in
these countries. As women play an extremely important role in agriculture in poor countries,
the modernization of food supply chains entails important gender implications as well. There
is however a large gap in the literature: the gender effects of high-value agri-food trade and
modernization of supply chains remains an almost unexplored issue (Fontana et al., 1998).
Only very few studies have taken gender into account in the analysis of modern supply
chains. Dolan (2001) points to the fact that female farmers are disadvantaged in contract-
farming schemes in the Kenyan horticulture sector. Reardon, Pingali and Stamoulis (2006)
argue that supermarket supply chains have decreased female economic opportunities in small
petty commerce. Barrientos, Dolan and Tallontire (2001, 2003) indicate that female farm
workers are exploited in the South African deciduous fruit sector. Although these studies give
valuable insights into specific gender-related aspects of modern supply chains, there is a need
for a more general view on gender implications of modern supply chains and for quantifying
the effects. M.Maertens / JFM.Swinnen - Draft for discussion – 3
 In this paper we analyze how women are specifically affected by the emergence and spread
of modern supply chains. We conceptualize the various channels through which women are
affected by the emergence of modern supply chains. We put together and discuss existing
empirical evidence and add new surveybased evidence from two studies of high-value
horticulture supply chains in Senegal in an attempt to quantify specific gender effects. We
aim at contributing to a better understanding of the specific gender implications of the growth
in high-value agricultural production and trade and the associated modernization of agri-food
supply chains. Our focus is mainly, although not exclusively, on high-value horticulture
supply chains in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA). This is of particular relevance because
horticulture supply chains have been most affected by processes of globalization and
modernization and because SSA is the developing region where gender inequality is most
pressing.

Maertens and Swinnen (2012) summarise the findings from a large number of studies and
point out a number of factors that affect the position of women following the establishment of
improved marketing systems and modern value chains as follows:
1. Biases that constrain women’s access to production and labour contracts
2. Even if women are included in such contracts, they may be in an inferior bargaining
situation because of low education, and poorer access to information and technology and
productive resources
3. If women are excluded from these production and labour contracts, they may be worse off
because their work intensity, levels of drudgery and risk, on the family farm may increase
when husband and/or male siblings gain these more profitable contracts
4. High value modern farming may increase the productivity and incomes of men, while
relegating women to lower productivity work, thereby increasing gender inequality
5. Intra-family decision making and bargaining powers affects outcomes. While higher
income from the modern farming systems may increase overall family income, women may
not benefit if they are excluded from access to better income earning opportunities and they
lack decision making power over incomes within the household. On the other hand, if women
do gain access to the more remunerative income earning opportunities, they will not only
gain from higher household incomes, but also gain greater within-household bargaining
power and control over decision making.
These factors provide a useful checklist of questions to ask and investigate when conducting
analysis of the effects of specific market reforms and their consequences, They also provide
some guidance into how pro-women policies and measures can be formulated and
implemented in specific socio-cultural contexts. In the next section we briefly discuss the
experience of the case of a modern value chain in the dairy sector of Pakistan, the Nestle
Dairy project, and consider what lessons can be drawn for gender outcomes if market reforms
lead to significant development of modern value chains in horticulture.
B
Accelerating Gender Equality in the Agribusiness Sector
Women play important roles along the supply chain as producers or suppliers, providers of
complementary services, distributors, and consumers. Companies can consider multiple
points of entry in supporting gender equality across the value chain. These points of entry are
matched with relevant result areas in Table 1. (i) Increasing women’s access to inputs and
financing. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO),
women farmers have 20%–30% lower yield than men farmers due to less access to
productive resources and opportunities.1 An important productivity driver is increasing
access to agricultural inputs such as improved seeds, fertilizer, equipment, and energy
sources. Finance is often the main constraint for women to obtain these inputs and is
therefore critical.2 The gender gap in agricultural productivity and underlying causes can
vary widely from country to country, and even within different value chains in the same
country. Accordingly, assessing each value chain separately is necessary
(ii) Increase women’s access to knowledge, networks, and technical assistance. Access to
knowledge and the needed support to apply knowledge are also essential to increase
productivity, quality, and price. It is crucial that women can access training, extension
services, and input suppliers that offer agronomic advisory services and/or peer farmers. The
need for better access to knowledge and support extends beyond production to financial
literacy, marketing, and sales.
(iii) Expanding the role women play in the supply chain. Increasing the involvement of
women in aggregation, transportation, distribution, marketing, and sale is another key step to
promote gender equality. Women’s household responsibilities, mobility constraints, lack of
formal training, and societal views of women’s roles can exclude women from playing a
larger role in participating in the most profitable steps of the value chain.

Enhancing Gender Equality within  the Staffng and Workplace of an Agribusiness

An agribusiness may consider the following points of entry to strengthen gender equality
within their staffng and workplace, as also presented in Table 2.
(i) Increase gender equality in governance, leadership, and the workforce. In the agribusiness
sector, a gender division of labor often places women in low-skilled positions or seasonal and
insecure positions. In South Asia, 13% of women are self employed in agriculture, compared
with 33% of men.Women’s participation in leadership increases profitability, and greater
gender diversity increases innovation in a company.
(ii) Enhance gender equality in the workplace. Women in the Asia and Pacific region carry a
disproportionate burden of domestic tasks, limiting their ability to engage and advance in
paid employment. A few workplace policies or practices can address this and other issues that
preclude gender parity in the workplace.
 Companies can adopt anti-sexual harassment policies; gender inclusion policies for
recruiting, hiring, retention, and promotion; workplace safety policies; and other policies and
practices that better enable women to access opportunities and advance in the agriculture
sector.
The Business Case for Gender Equality in the Agribusiness Sector
Increase women’s income through higher productivity and quality. Agriculture is the primary
provider of employment for women in the Asia and Pacific region. The average participation
of women in the agriculture workforce is 40%–50% in East Asia and Southeast Asia, and
around 30% in South Asia. Despite the strong presence of women in the agriculture sector,
there is a gender gap in access to land, inputs, technology, education, and financial services.b
For example, women represent on average 10% of all agricultural landholders in Asia.c The
gender gap varies from one country to another, and is generally less pronounced in Southeast
Asia.
The gender gap leads to lower productivity among women producers (footnote b). Increasing
women’s access to inputs, finance, knowledge, and networks can increase productivity and
quality of production and thus increase revenues.
Decrease costs through higher workforce retention and strengthened supply chains. The out-
migration of men to cities in the Asia and Pacific region plays a role in the feminization of
agriculture. For example, in Nepal, the share of women in agricultural employment went
from 35% in 1980 to about 50% in 2010. Because women play a large and growing role in
the agriculture workforce, it is important to take steps to invest in them to attract and retain
the best workers and reduce turnover from one season to the next.
Creating a supportive environment for women workers can positively impact the attendance
and retention of all workers, resulting in significant cost savings for companies (footnote e).
In the case where women producers are not hired by companies but are selling their
production to companies as suppliers, investing in women in the supply chain can generate
increased yield and quality and ensure a more stable supply chain, which lowers the cost of
procurement.
Increase sales by accessing broader markets. Codes of conduct and production standards are
increasingly important in global markets, and compliance opens the door to more consumers,
especially for high-value fresh products. Investors, buyers, and consumers are placing greater
value on environmental, social, and governance factors of a business. Taking proactive steps
to increase gender equality can improve a company’s reputation, fostering investment and
increased market access. This is especially true when companies weave together gender
equality and climate action.
Women are responsible for half of the world’s food production, and in most developing
countries they produce between 60 and 80 percent of the food. Yet, women continue to be
regarded as home producers or assistants on the farm, and not as farmers and economic
agents on their own merit. Women receive a small fraction of assistance for agricultural
investments; women in Africa receive less than 10 percent of small farm credit and 1 percent
of total credit to the agricultural sector. Empowering women farmers is vital to lifting rural
communities out of poverty, especially as many developing nations face economic crisis,
food insecurity, HIV/AIDS, environmental degradation and increasing urbanization.
Agricultural productivity and income gains are necessary but not sufficient to eliminate
hunger and malnutrition. Women are responsible for nutrition in most homes, including the
purchase and preparation of food. However, because of traditional norms, they often have
limited access to education and control over resources. When given the opportunity to
manage household finances, studies show that women are more likely than men to spend on
their family’s nutritional needs, healthcare, and school fees for children. Therefore,
empowering women to increase access to and control over resources is critical to attaining
food security in the developing world.
OBSTACLES WOMEN FACE IN FOOD SECURITY
 In many developing countries, land is predominantly owned by men and transferred
intergenerationally to males. Therefore women may lack access to land, water rights and
livestock. In addition, even when women are able to access land, lack of ownership creates a
disincentive to invest time and resources into sustainable farming practices, which in turn
lowers production and results in less income and food for the household.
 Women and girls do not receive adequate education and training opportunities. Education
has proven to be an important tool to increase agricultural productivity and reduce poverty
and malnutrition. However, girls in developing countries often have less access to basic
education and women receive only five percent of agricultural extension services worldwide.
 Women have less access to credit than men, as well as less control over financial
resources. Women in Africa access only one percent of available credit in the agricultural
sector, in part because women often do not have the necessary collateral. This lack of credit
limits their ability to purchase agricultural tools, seeds, fertilizers or hire labor that could
increase their crop production.
 Women often do not have the appropriate technology, tools and inputs for farming
productively. Studies in Burkina Faso, Kenya, Nigeria and Zambia showed that due to
differential control over resources, when men and women grew the same crop on individual
plots, women were at a disadvantage. Most inputs, such as labor and fertilizer, went to the
men’s plots. Some experts estimate that if women had the same inputs as men, household
agricultural output in subSaharan Africa could increase between 10 to 20 percent.
 Time is a major constraint for women. In many instances, women have to spend a great
deal of time traveling on foot to collect water and firewood, preparing meals and feeding the
family, and traveling between the home and fields, forcing them to make difficult trade-offs.
 Women’s mobility may be constrained because they are tied to their homes and are the
primary care takers of children. They may also lack access to transportation and roads.
Furthermore, women may be confronted with risks to their safety, especially in conflict and
post-conflict environments; violence against women is a serious problem around the world.
 Households affected by HIV/AIDS have increased vulnerability to food insecurity. Illness
due to HIV/AIDS impedes a family’s capacity to grow food while their nutritional needs are
even more critical. Additionally, burdens on women as caretakers are increased.
INTERVENTIONS
 Include women as well as men in the design of agriculture and nutrition programs. 
Encourage property, divorce and inheritance laws that allow women to hold title to land and
provide a mechanism for enforcing the laws.  Provide women and girls with access to
primary education as well as training on agricultural production, resource management and
conservation.  Ensure agricultural extension agents understand and consider the needs of
women farmers; and recruit more female extension workers.  Facilitate lending to women
entrepreneurs working in agriculture; make financial services more accessible to rural
women.  Ensure that agricultural programs consider the needs and preferences of both men
and women when developing and introducing new varieties and technologies.  Provide rural
women with greater mobility and market information by facilitating access to roads,
transportation, water and information technology services.  Include gender specific
monitoring and evaluation indicators in food security programs.  Provide training for
agriculture and nutrition specialists on how to apply gender methodologies to the design and
implementation of programs.  Build local leadership and leverage relationships with
government ministries and other institutions to create responsible food security policies that
prevent crisis, integrating gender considerations into policies using evidence-based advocacy.
references
a Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). 2017. Regional Gender
Strategy and Action Plan 2017–2019 for Asia and the Pacific. Bangkok. b FAO. 2011. The
State of Food and Agriculture 2010-11: Women in Agriculture: Closing the Gender Gap for
Development. Rome. c FAO. Gender and Land Rights Database (accessed 1 April 2021).. d
S. Akter et al. 2017. Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equity in Agriculture: A Di™erent
Perspective from Southeast Asia. Food Policy. 69. pp. 270–279. e International Finance
Corporation (IFC). 2016. The Business Case for Women’s Employment in Agribusiness.
Washington, DC. f V. Slavchevska, S. Kaaria, and S. Taivalmaa. 2016. Feminization of
Agriculture in the Context of Rural Transformations: What is the Evidence? Working Paper.
World Bank. g T.-M. Yeh, F.-Y. Pai, and L.-C. Wu. 2020. Relationship Stability and Supply
Chain Performance for SMEs: From Internal, Supplier, and Customer Integration
Perspectives. Mathematics. 8 (11). h IFC. 2016. Investing in Women along Agribusiness
Value Chains. Washington, DC. i S. Biegel and S. Lambin. 2021. Gender & Climate
Investment: A Strategy for Unlocking a Sustainable Future. GenderSmart. Source: Asian
Development Bank.