CHAPTER 7: THE GENDERED ASPECTS OF ACCESS TO AND UTILISATION OF
7.6 Access to extension
Levels of literacy are important for extension as some material is in print. Extension includes services that are provide to farmers to improve their farming practises and increase yield be it in crops or livestock or whatever farming enterprise they are engaged. All the participants were able to read and write basic English and Shona. Prior to the study, the participants were each requested to sign consent forms. None of them had requested assistance in comprehending the form. Most had engaged in adult literacy classes, which were very popular within the community and were driven by the independence government. As Jamison, Lau, and Lockheed (1982) noted, taking as a proxy of rural development in the agricultural sector, completing the first four years of formal schooling results in a 7.4% increase of agricultural productivity. The International Labour Organization (1977) notes that “education is itself a basic need and equality of access to educational services, particularly in rural areas, is therefore an important ingredient of a basic needs strategy” (p.28). It is not an end in itself; it is a means to fulfil other basic needs such as being healthy and being nourished. Tilak (2002) outlined that a relation does exist between the two viewpoints, since being educated has an impact on these other basic needs, it will have an indirect positive impact on income-generating capacities which allow for the households to have disposable incomes, including incomes to buy agricultural inputs and food. Kudzai noted the following,
I am glad that I have a good level of literacy. In this way, I am able to read all the extension literature that we receive. I can also make use of the recipe books. It is difficult for some of the villagers. I see it when they ask me for help, At least for those with children who can read and write, they help their parents but it is not the same as reading on your own. (Kudzai, female participant, date of interview, 14 August, 2017).
155 Literacy is important as it enables one to read extension material, and operate gadgets such as cell phones through which some extension messages are now being transmitted. The manner in which extension is delivered is also important for its acceptability. In some cultures, e.g. in Ethiopia, women are not allowed to receive extension from men and vice versa. Female extension agents may also experience such constraining norms and rules affecting their ability to work in the field. Male agents, on the other hand, may have less understanding of the specific constraints faced by women, such as time poverty, limits on mobility, and the gendered division of tasks in agricultural work. There are also unrealistic and misleading assumptions that that knowledge transmitted to men automatically trickles down to women and benefits the latter equally (World Bank, 2004). Extension workers often assume that men are the only producers in the household and the sole decision-makers regarding household farming activities. Thus women do not receive some of the knowledge required to enhance their agricultural productivity, and their participation in key production decisions, e.g., what to plant, whether to sell, to whom to sell and at what price, and whether to invest (World Bank, 2004). According to Peterman et al. (2010), extension may take the form of individual field visits to farmer field schools, model farms and demonstration plots. As Okafar et al. (2012) noted, under male dominated social structures and political systems, women are denied equal access to land and extension services.
The participants advised that extension was mostly delivered through the group model. This is where farmers congregate and receive extension support. This allows for farmer to farmer, peer to peer motivation and enables the extension staff to cover more farmers with limited resources.
Participants expressed the view that the government extension staff were no longer very visible, nor active and NGOs seemed to have taken over the extension role. Thomas had this to say,
For some of us who live here full time and fully rely on the knowledge of extension staff, we prefer that the government staff be more involved. We know these NGOs do good work, but they are not here for long whereas government will always be around.
(Thomas, male participant, date of interview, 12 August, 2015).
They still however preferred the government extension as they felt this was more sustained.
NGOs such as CADS had more presence and the participants were all satisfied with the level of support they received from CADS, but they were always aware that these NGO projects would come to an end, whereas government presence was always assured. Seven of the women (one widowed) felt that the extension received was appropriate for their needs. They indicated that they had advised extension agencies about the mode of extension they preferred, which
156 was the group model as it allowed for them to socialise. They also acknowledged that it was not always easy for them to participate in all extension activities. At times they had to attend trainings over days and this made it untenable especially for the widowed women. Quisimbing (2012) noted that women face a unique reproductive and life-cycle challenge during their prime years of labour force participation including marriage expectations, pregnancy, child birth, and childcare. This reinforces pre-existing imbalances in participation in activities outside the home.
It was also noted that though the males were predominantly the ones registered as beneficiaries of the project implemented by CADS, the women were mostly the ones that attended extension sessions. One of the participants said, “It is easier for women to participate as they are readily available. Registration is based on the head of the household and we all know that is the man in the home” (Lucas, a male participant, date of interview, 13 June, 2016). This confirms the triple role that women play in the community where they are expected to be carers, productive and also attend to community social roles. The women noted that if extension was over a week and away from home, they found it difficult to attend. This is similar to cases in Papua New Guinea. Training in Papua New Guinea by the United States Agency for International Development could not be attended by most women because of the required travel and three days away from family responsibilities (Cahn, 2008).
On why the women participated and attended extension meetings rather than the men, Lizzy, one of the married participants explained that men “worked” and therefore could not attend all meetings. Work was defined as that which brought income into the household. On probing why farming was not considered work, especially as women also sold some vegetables from their gardens, they said it was work which everyone undertook. Another reason was that men were more productive as they worked outside the home. Lucas, one of the male participants also explained “there were no economic gains immediately associated with attending extension meetings” (Lucas, a male participant, date of interview, 13 June, 2016). The women acted more as place holders for the husbands, whilst widowed women had to maintain a presence for fear of alienation by the community and extended family. In the nuclear or extended family model in Zimbabwe, women are constantly under surveillance and control of the husband or his relations (Chinyemba et al. 2006). The women who attended extension sessions learnt other skills such as cooking, making different recipes such as mango juice, pumpkin, ice, and banana
157 sausage. The women believed their children performed better in school because they were well nourished. As a result of impacts related to climate change, they were also taught good agronomical practises. Of the 15 men, seven attended extension meetings on a consistent basis.
One of the participants said,
It is important for me to learn as much as I can, you never know what doors the knowledge will open up for you. Besides, for me, farming is my livelihood so I need to be abreast of new developments. (Tapiwa, male participant, date of interview, 12 August, 2016).
All the widowed women elucidated that they participated in extension meetings as they needed to keep a foot in all that happened within the community, and therefore sacrificed the time to spend in meetings and extension sessions. The males who participated were the lead farmers.
An incentive was that they were given inputs for demonstrations. The widowed women felt discriminated in that they had not been chosen to be lead farmers. Tangible benefits associated with this position would therefore accrue to the households with males. Admittedly, they gained knowledge, but the saying in the community, loosely translated was “you don’t eat knowledge”. Razavi (2007) and Budlender (2010) note that in developing countries, particularly in rural communities, women are underserved by public services. Those men whose households were targeted as lead farmers noted they had more labour and therefore had the advantage to be identified as better candidates for lead farmers. Although they empathised with the women in female-headed households, the married women were of the view there was very little they could do. Rudo said,
It is not easy being a single woman and we fully understand the challenges they face, we do try to be supportive but we also have our own families to look out for.
(Rudo, female participant, date of interviewed 12 August, 2015).
Focus group discussions with women revealed that they were of the view that they had, on the whole, access to extension services although they felt more could be done. The males also received extension but acquiesced that it was women who attended more. On whether they were comfortable with receiving extension from males, the women did not have any issues with male extension workers, only complaining that the government extension had become limited. Even though CADS had had a presence during its project implementation, this had died down, as the private extension staff could no longer be remunerated.
158 As a result of the extension, all the farmers had been able to grow a variety of leafy vegetables and had vibrant horticultural gardens, which remained a “women’s” domain. Gardens are traditionally viewed as a female enterprise in line with her role as provider for household food security. Gardens provided fresh vegetables and they could sell off surplus. In terms of planning on the purchase of inputs, participants all said they planned together the types of inputs to be purchased. However, it was agreed that there were crops that were the sole responsibility of women, especially those grown in the gardens.
In concluding the discussion on extension, FAO (1996; 2012) argues that extension services can be reformed to better serve women. A 1988–1989 survey covering 97 countries found that only 5% of extension services were addressed to rural women, and only 15% of extension advisors were female (FAO 1993; FAO 1996). More recently, 16 researchers from the World Bank and IFPRI identified large gender inequalities in access to extension services in surveys made in Ghana, Ethiopia, and the Indian state of Karnataka (World Bank and IFPRI, 2010). In Ghana only 10 of 70 extension staff were female, in Ethiopia, they were only males. In Karnataka, 27% of male-headed rural households reported having received visits from an agricultural advisor during the previous year. Only 20% of female-headed households reported such visits. The failure of extension services to benefit women farmers as much as men can be attributed to under representation of women among extension services agents. World Bank and IFPRI (2010) noted that in Karnataka, none of the 41 agriculture extension workers were female, only one of 41 junior engineers was female, and only four of 40 veterinary assistants were female. According to the Ministry of Agriculture in Zimbabwe only 10% of the extension staff is women. This matters because, in some contexts, religious, social, or cultural rules may prohibit contact between a woman farmer and a male agricultural extension worker. Women comprise at least 75% of the members of the powerful small-scale farmers' organization, the Zimbabwe Farmers Union (ZFU), but constitute only 4.5 % of the office bearers. In a 1990 baseline survey, agricultural extension reached only 44% of the women farmers (Hakutangwi, 1998). As a result, in 1993 government sought to address the constraints faced by women in agriculture and developed a package intended to provide extension in a more appropriate manner, including the recruitment of females to agricultural colleges. In 2001, there were a
159 total of 311 women extension workers out of the 2,895 in Zimbabwe (Ruzivo Trust, 2012).
Farai, one of the more senior women explained,
I have been in this community for a while. I have seen extension workers come and go and they have mostly been men. So of late, I have seen more women as extension staff.
I think its also hard for them. One time, one was pregnant and I could see she was having a hard time, but for us we are happy about it. We are still to get used to it though.
(Farai, female participant, date of interview 28 August 2015).