Transcript Gender Roles in Production and Marketing within the

Gender Roles in Production and
Marketing within the VegetableAgroforestry System in Bukidnon
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Ma. Elena Chiong-Javier, Ph.D.
Social Development Research Center
 De La Salle University-Manila
This paper is
based on findings
from a collaborative research on
“Agroforestry and Sustainable
Vegetable Production in Southeast
Asian Watersheds”
(funded by USAID through Virginia Tech’s
SANREM III Program and spearheaded by
North Carolina A&T University)
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Research Goals: alleviate poverty and food scarcity and
reduce environmental degradation through economicallyviable, resource-conserving technologies and gender-friendly
socioeconomic policies that will reward especially small
women and men farmer-stakeholders
Objectives
o T = Technology (sustainable & profitable VAF integration)
o M = Market (market value chain)
o P = Policy (promotive options and frameworks)
o E = Environmental & Socioeconomic Impact (assessment)
o G = Gender (improved women’s participation & welfare)
o S = Scaling Up (VAF management & dissemination)
Multiple partnerships involving institutions in the US, Vietnam,
Indonesia, & the Philippines, including WAC, WVC (at least
28 scientists)
The DLSU-SDRC Involvement
Market value chain research on
vegetable-agroforestry (VAF)
products in Barangay Songco,
Lantapan Municipality, Bukidnon
 Gender studies, especially women’s
participation in VAF production and
marketing
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Features of Songco (study site)
- One of 14 barangays in Lantapan, situated within
Manupali Watershed which in turn comprises a
substantial part of Mt Kitanglad Range Natural Park
(protected area); a noted vegetable basket, supplying
urban markets in CDO, Davao, Cebu, and Manila.
- Remembered as 80% forested until logging started in
1950s
- In-migration and socioeconomic development efforts
speeded up rate of forest conversion and changed
land use patterns
- High elevation (averaging 800 masl)
- Land classification: 63% timberland, 37% A&D
Site features…
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Longer rainy season (May-December) and many
ground water resources
1st class soil types suitable for agriculture
Moderate to severely-rolling slopes (70-80% quarter
slopes)
Severe erosion potential estimated at 40%
2002 population: 2,947 persons (46% women and
54% men) in 568 households
Land uses: 81.6% forestry, 17.1% agricultural, 1.3%
industrial/agro-industrial and residential
Private agricultural lands are predominantly
vegetable gardens; trees are along boundaries or
contours (fewer no. of purely AF farms compared to
monocropped vegetable gardens)
Site features….
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Slopes than can be plowed are usually planted to
vegetables (top 5: Chinese cabbage or umbok, beans,
cabbage, tomato, & potato; other popular preferences bell pepper, carrot, sayote, sweetpeas, & eggplant))
Steeper areas or “bakilid” are used for AF species
including eucalyptus, acacia mangium, musizi, & falcata
trees, assorted fruit trees and rootcrops like sweet
potatoes, taro, & cassava
Mostly unpaved and rugged roads
5 waiting sheds serve as “bagsakan” (collection point &
weighing station) found on main barangay road
Agriculture-based ecocomy: majority of households grow
vegetables for the market
Gender Role Findings
1. Men are the dominant labor force in
almost all niches of the agricultural
(vegetable) production cycle; women
produce subsistence crops and cutflowers in home gardens.
Mainly Men
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Land preparation (97%)
Planting (77%)
Crop management/
watering/weeding (79%)
Fertilizer application (92%)
Pest control (95%)
Harvesting (84%)
Mainly Women
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On-farm meal preparation
Home gardening
2. Timber production is also a
predominantly male task; female
participation is limited to tree care.
3. Men rather than women control the
following agricultural domains:
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Farm-level decision making, viz., purchase of
inputs (66%) & timing of harvest (58%)
Involvement in farmers’ organizations,
associations or cooperatives (69-100%)
Participation in agricultural training &
extension (54%).
4. However, women are actively
engaged in obtaining financing or capital for
farm inputs and labor requirements.
5. Male spouses dominate in post-harvest
tasks of sorting, grading, & transporting VAF
products.
6. Vegetable marketing is dominated more by
women but timber marketing is done by men.
7. AF crop preferences are also gendered:
abaca, coffee, falcata, eucalyptus & gmelina
for men; corn, banana, rootcrops, & cut
flowers for women.
Findings on Women Marketers
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Known as “biyahidors” (one who buys-and-sells)
Handle mostly micro vegetable trading &
vending enterprises (it is the men who are in
large-scale trading)
Study subjects are mostly married, have
been in the trade for 8-40 yrs.
Failures in vegetable “gardening” (poor harvest,
unprofitable income, lack of capital, fluctuating market prices)
pushed them to try selling their own produce
before venturing to buy other farmers’ crops
for sale to the market
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Market participation sustained by economic
profitability of vegetable marketing & informal
social-market alliances of women biyahidors.
Carry 4-5 varieties of vegetables in their
stocks (umbok is favored followed by carrots, potatoes,
cauliflower, eggplant, beans, bell pepper/atsal, chayote, broccoli, &
squash)
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Goods procured from an average of 6 regular
(suki) suppliers, mostly friends, neighbors,
and kinsmen who deliver goods to biyahidor’s
house.
Women biyahidors…
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Weekly revolving capital of P1000-6000
-covering cost of goods, hauling fee (P5/sack), trucking (P35/sack),
market stall rental or bodega fee (P5/sack)
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Gross ROI on lower-priced (less than P10/k)
vegetables is generally 100%; more
expensive goods earn lesser
Main business problems:
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Lack of capital & borrowing from usurers
Failure to recover capital due to selling on credit or at a loss
Helplessness over fluctuating market prices
Poor quality of goods due to mishandling/bad roads & poor
command over prices
Overall: difficulty of sustaining business
Women biyahidors…
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Some business practices/strategies to
safeguard investment:
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Keep standard entitlement: biyahidor can crop off “less than
25%” (may be negotiated by supplier) of the farmgate price/kilo to
account for spoilage during transporting
Stretch capital by going to supplier’s farm and purchase at farm
gate prices
Be present at harvest time to monitor quality, help sort/classify,
oversee packing/sacking, and ensure the sale does not go to
another trader
Be willing to travel long distance to procure supplies in scarcity or
in demand
Cultivate suki relationships with suppliers and buyers
Maintain low selling prices to attract buyers
Choose cash buyers over those who buy on credit
Summary and Implications
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Gender considerations must be considered in
helping improve the lives of small upland
farmers and marketers; farm roles are gender
differentiated and vary by crop.
Amidst increasing commercial/market
influences, farm roles in the upland VAF
system still reflect a persistently traditional
pattern with men assuming most of the
productive tasks and women lending support
(but they dominate in reproductive/home- and
child-related work).
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Thus it seems that any assistance to increase
farm productivity, whether for vegetables or
tree crops, will continue to be cornered by
men (because they occupy almost all niches)
unless and until greater efforts are exerted
to really target women stakeholders.
Because timber marketing is a male role, any
development of tree-based market
enterprises shall also remain male-directed
and –oriented unless more women become
involved in this sphere.
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However, since women and vegetable
marketing are linked, it follows that the
development of vegetable-related market
enterprises shall most likely impact directly
and positively on women’s welfare.
The needs of this upland women sector
include access to micro-financing, efficient &
updated market information, simplified
business management strategies, and formal
organization.
Maraming Salamat….
Thank You!