Transforming Gender Relations in Agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa

The report examines how household methodologies that address gender inequalities can improve agricultural outcomes and household resilience in sub-Saharan Africa. It details three specific case studies: the Agricultural Support Programme (ASP) in Zambia, which focused on 'Farming as a Business'; the Household Gender Analysis for Gender Transformation in Ethiopia, which used participatory tools to visualize labor and privilege; and the Gender Action Learning System (GALS) in Uganda, which integrated individual visioning with coffee value chain development. The findings indicate that while these approaches successfully shift intra-household roles and improve joint decision-making, they often struggle to address structural inequalities such as land ownership and wider cultural norms without complementary external interventions.

• Gender inequalities in agricultural households inhibit the efficient use of productive resources, which lowers overall productivity and negatively impacts food and nutrition security.
• The Household Gender Analysis for Gender Transformation in Ethiopia uses a grid and stone-based system to visualize the disparity between women's labor contributions and the privileges they receive, leading to increased household resilience as men and women learn to perform each other's traditional tasks.
• Zambia's Agricultural Support Programme (ASP) improved food security and agricultural output by treating the farm as a business and involving the entire household, including children, in planning and budgeting.
• The ASP in Zambia led to a reduction in the strict division of 'male' and 'female' crops, allowing women to market lucrative crops in their own right or ensuring the whole household benefited from the sales.
• In Uganda, the Gender Action Learning System (GALS) improved the coffee value chain by addressing gender-based barriers, resulting in higher quality 'Wugar' coffee, increased male participation in reproductive tasks, and a decrease in gender-based violence.
• Despite intra-household gains, these methodologies often fail to address structural inequalities, such as statutory land rights and the marginalization of women in polygamous households or those without male kin.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (n.d.). Transforming Gender Relations in Agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SIANI-Gender-Africa-book/SIANI-2013-Transforming-Gender-Relations-Chapter5.pdf

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Transforming Gender Relations in Agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa. n.d. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SIANI-Gender-Africa-book/SIANI-2013-Transforming-Gender-Relations-Chapter5.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Transforming Gender Relations in Agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa |url=https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SIANI-Gender-Africa-book/SIANI-2013-Transforming-Gender-Relations-Chapter5.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitutendtransforming, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Transforming Gender Relations in Agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, url = {https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SIANI-Gender-Africa-book/SIANI-2013-Transforming-Gender-Relations-Chapter5.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }