Hiding in Plain Sight
Gender and GM crops
Patricia Zambrano, IFPRI
Isidore Lobnibe, Western Oregon University, Daylinda B.
Cabanilla, UPLB, Jorge H. Maldonado, U. de Los Andes
Jose Falck Zepeda, IFPRI
17th ICABR Conference
Ravello, June 21, 2013
INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE
Outline
• Is gender relevant?
• Why use a qualitative approach?
• Burkina Faso, Colombia, and the Philippines
gender pilot case studies
• Similarities and differences
• Future research?
• Gender neutral, but mainly male
“Farmers”
• Household as unit of analysis
• Sole and efficient HH decisionmakers
Misspecification: Biased
and inconsistent models
Policy implications
Gender
• Gender roles are determined by cultural,
ideological, religious, economic and social
relationship between men and women and
affect the distribution of resources between
men and women
• It is one of the determinants in technology
adoption
bEcon
bEcon
Economics Literature about the
Impacts of
Genetically Engineered Crops
in Developing Economies
http://ebrary.ifpri.org/cdm/landingpage/collection/p15738coll6
Compiled by Indira Yerramareddy, Patricia Zambrano, and Jose Falck Zepeda
Gender and GM
Of the 135 papers in bEcon than that assess the
economic impact of GM crops on farmers we found
only a handful that made explicit references to gender.
To explore whether gender affects access to
and use of GM cotton, we developed and
tested a qualitative approach in Colombia, as
well as Burkina Faso and later for GM maize
in the Philippines
Burkina Faso
Lobnibe, I., Zambrano, P., and Biermayr-Jenzano, P. 2012. Field
Report on Gender and GM cotton in Burkina Faso. Project
report. Washington DC.
Colombia
Zambrano, P., J. H. Maldonado, S. L. Mendoza, L. Ruiz, L.A.
Fonseca, and I. Cardona. 2011. Women cotton farmers: Their
perceptions and experiences with transgenic varieties. IFPRI
Discussion Paper 01118. Washington, D.C. International Food
Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
Zambrano, P., M. Smale, J. H. Maldonado, and S. L. Mendoza. 2012.
Unweaving the Threads: The Experiences of Female Farmers
with Biotech Cotton in Colombia. AgBioForum 15(2): 125-137
Philippines
Yorobe, M., Jr., and D. Cabanilla. 2013. Gender Impacts from the
adoption of genetically modified maize in the Philippines. Draft
final report submitted to the International Food Policy Research
Institute (IFPRI). Project report. Los Banos, the Philippines.
Page 8
Economic assessment of commercialized
GM crops in Burkina Faso, Colombia, and
Philippines
Documented
economic
benefits
Absence of gender
considerations
Page 9
Fieldwork
Colombia, 2010
Burkina Faso, 2011
GM cotton
Cerete, Cordoba and
El Espinal, Tolma
Dahoun, Hounde, Dimikuy, and
Bereba in Tuy Province
Dano in Ioba Province
Philippines, 2012
• u
GM Maize
Barangay Olympog in General
Santos City ,South Cotabato,
Barangay Cabisera 5 in Ilagan,
Isabela
2011 indicators
Burkina Faso
Colombia
Philippines
Population, total mill
17.0
46.9
94.9
GDP per capita (constant 2000 US$)
286.1
3,362.5
1,413.4
Urban population (% of total)
26.5
75.3
48.9
Agriculture, value added (% of GDP)
33.8
7.0
12.8
Employment in agriculture (% of total
84.8*
17.9
33.0
79.7
59.4
51.2
51.7
2.5
1.1
employment)
Labor force participation rate, female
(% of female population ages 15-64)
Agricultural raw materials exports
(% of merchandise exports)
Qualitative Research Design
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•
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Small group discussion (SGD)
Participant observation
Expert opinion interviews
One-to-one interviews
Secondary data collection
Disclosure
Corroboration of the comparative qualitative
findings presented here need to be followed up
with quantitative studies to confirm the extent
and representativeness of these observations.
Page 14
Colombia
Philippines
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Access to credit, farm inputs
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Ability to hire personnel
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Limited
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Activity/Issue
Burkina Faso
Inheritance rights
Access to land
Granted by head of
HH
Access to information,
extension services
Equal partners with head of HH
as crop producers
Work contribution in HH/male
plots
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Active participation in overall
crop operation
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Invisible or undervalued croprelated activities
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Limited
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Limited
Limited
Control and responsibility over
HH finances
Control of crop operation
Limited
A new focus?
Access and control of assets are key
determinant in technology adoption
The comparison between Burkina, and
Colombia/Philippines suggests that
even when women have such access they
still have other binding limitations
– Social and cultural norms
Time and other limitations
Similarities
Qualitative methods uncovered many activities that show
women involvement in the overall cotton and maize
operation
GM varieties have introduced changes in farming practices
that affect women and men differently
Similarities
• Overall men and women perceive GM as beneficial
• Men and women perceive costs and benefits of GM
differently, although women who have planted GM
varieties tend to agree more with their male
counterparts
• Both male and female farmers identified the lack of
adequate and timely information about GM as a
disadvantage
• Lack of knowledge about the technology is more
prevalent among female non-adopters than male
non-adopters
Other similarities
For female farmers the fact that GM is a laborsaving technology seems to be the most
beneficial Absence of gender considerations
aspect of the technologies
Differences in how male and female farmers use
additional income and time saved that the
technology can generate
Women’s constraints
– Most limiting one appear to be time. Women are
constrained by their domestic workload and
responsibilities
– Limited access to agronomic and technology
information, even compared to their male
counterparts
– Limited or no access or even no knowledge of the
technology that can potentially benefit them.
Potential areas for future research
• Understand the determinants of women versus
men’s decision to grow GM crops
• Understand heterogeneity among male and female
clients
• Quantify “invisible threads”: multiple tasks
performed by women that are many times perceived
as “invisible” or of insignificant social or cultural
value
• Assess ”indirect “ benefits of GM: reduced drudgery
• Assess how women and men spend saved time and
additional resources
Bt cotton in Burkina Faso,
advantages
Labor-saving technologies
• Reduction in insecticide application from 6 to 2
applications- Some estimates:
– Water saved: 18 to 20 gallons of water by ha.
– Time saved: Women have saved 3 trips to the well for
every savedinsecticide application, for a total of 12
trips or 36 miles
– Health implication: Average water weight per trip ~20
kg
•
•
•
•
Women play an important role in proction
Different perceptions]
Not all women are the same
What youmen and women do with additional
resources.