low prices. While almost all consumers interviewed
preferred white maize, pricing games suggest that low-
income consumers are not willing to pay large price
premiums for white maize products. At price discounts
comparable to world price differentials, one-third of poor-
consumers and one-quarter of all consumers will switch to
yellow maize. Ready availability of low-cost yellow maize
would increase the real purchasing power of the poorest
consumers. In addition, at relatively low discounts, poor
consumers are willing to substitute whole meals for more
refined meals.
Tshibaka, T.B. 1992. Labor in the Rural Household
Economy of the Zairian Basin. Research Report 94.
Washington, D.C.: IFPRI.
Based on a survey of households in the Zairian Basin, a rain
forest zone, this research report examines labor issues in the
household rural economy. The determinants of labor use
and the factors that affect labor productivity are examined.
Gender divisions of labor are included in the analysis. The
author suggests that households make collective decisions
about agricultural production, unlike households in other
parts of Africa where men and women may farm more
separately. In order to have both growth and equity in this
region of the Congo (formerly Zaire), it will be necessary to
increase the productivity of labor. The recommendations for
the short run include improving research, extension, and
weather forecasting abilities to develop a sound agricultural
calendar for the area. In the medium term, it will be
necessary to improve the basic infrastructure, such as roads
and distribution and marketing channels. In the long run,
rural capital and credit markets must be developed.
Udry, C., J. Hoddinott, H. Alderman, and L. Haddad.
1995. Gender differentials in farm productivity:
Implications for household efficiency and agricultural
policy. Food Policy 20(5): 407-23.
Using data on Burkina Faso, the authors find that plots
controlled by women are farmed much less intensively than
similar plots simultaneously planted with the same crop but
controlled by men in the same household. This suggests
that a key assumption of almost all household models
(including the new collective and bargaining models),
which is that households achieve Pareto efficient outcomes,
may be incorrect. The existence of inefficiencies within
households suggests that many resources are neither pooled
or traded within households and that missing markets may
exist within households as well as within communities and
regions. Improvements in credit markets and access to
inputs for women would allow them to choose efficient
levels of these inputs, regardless of the levels chosen by men
for their plots.
Udry, C. 1996. Gender, agricultural production, and the
theory of the household. Journal of Political Economy
104(5): 1010-46.
Models of household decision-making usually make the
assumption that the allocation of resources is Pareto
efficient. For agricultural households, this would suggest
that factors are allocated efficiently across plots. However,
the results of this paper, using household survey data from
Burkina Faso, suggest that plots controlled by women are
farmed less intensively than those farmed by men. By
reallocating resources across plots within the household,
total household production could be increased. This
suggests that households are not making unified decisions
about the allocation of resources.
Vaughan, M. 1985. Household units and historical process
in Southern Malawi. Review of African Political
Economy 34: 35-45.
This paper examines the effects of commodity production
on rural households in southern Malawi during the colonial
period to analyze how the circumstances under which
commodity production is initiated may affect the position
of women. Although the case studies are of cotton and
tobacco, the broader message may be relevant for
understanding maize production. In particular, Vaughn
argues that the timing of women entering commodity
production is important. If they enter it at the same time as
men, they may have more bargaining power to retain their
land once land becomes scarce.
von Braun, J., and P. J.R Webb. 1989. The impact of new
crop technology on the agricultural division of labor in
a West African setting. Economic Development and
Cultural Change 37(3): 513-34.
Centralized pump irrigation schemes were introduced into
the Gambia specifically to address differential gender roles
in farming. In this area, rice was traditionally a crop grown
on women’s individually controlled plots. Women use rice
for home consumption and market sales. Upland crops,
including maize, were grown on communal plots controlled
by men for consumption by the compound. The
introduction of the pump schemes resulted in a shift to rice
being grown communally on land controlled by the male
compound head. Thus, this study explores the relationships
between crops, technologies, and control of land to examine
how changing technologies affect gender relations. The
impact of these shifts on maize production is not examined.
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