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Title:Strategies for improving the economic status of female-headed households in eastern Zimbabwe: the case for adopting the IAR4D framework's innovation platforms
Editor:Nyikahadzoi, K.
Year:2012
Periodical:Journal of Social Development in Africa (ISSN 1012-1080)
Volume:27
Issue:2
Pages:59-84
Language:English
Geographic term:Zimbabwe
Subjects:women farmers
rural households
gender inequality
social status
small farms
Abstract:This study was conducted in seven districts within Manicaland Province and Mashonaland East Province in Zimbabwe. It analyses the situation of female smallholder farmers with a view to determine innovative strategies that could be employed to improve their socioeconomic status. A sample of 600 smallholder communal farmers, made up of female and male heads of households, was selected for the study. The results of the study indicate that gender differences lead to inequalities which affect the farmers' participation in agricultural activities; female heads of households (FHH) are more disadvantaged than their male counterparts in issues pertaining to control of agricultural resources, and FHH status proves to be a factor regarding support which the women receive from their (former) husbands' families. The average age and farming experience of female heads of households are significantly higher than that of male heads, while the size of land under cultivation per household is also found to be significantly lower for females than for males, as well as household assets-ownership and the social capital index. The paper calls for the adoption of the IAR4D (Agricultural Research for Development) strategy, an innovation which could help to address the plight of female-headed households in rural Zimbabwe. Bibliogr., notes, sum. [Journal abstract]
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