While attention has been paid largely to forest restoration, meeting global land restoration pledges will require scaling-up restoration of ecosystem services on agricultural land. This paper contributes to the literature on restoration practice and agricultural technology adoption, by shifting the focus onto the farm and considering the role of intrahousehold dynamics in the uptake of farmland restoration practices. We examine the intrahousehold decisions and gender relations surrounding the trial of two on-farm restoration practices: tree planting and planting basins; with over 2,500 farmers in the eastern drylands of Kenya. Combining results from household surveys, interviews and focus group discussions, our findings reveal that decisions over the uptake of restoration practices, although usually initiated by women who attend agricultural workshops, are often discussed between husband and wife and that multiple social dimensions intersect to shape men’s and women’s interest in, contribution to, and benefit from different practices. Furthermore, our study demonstrates that these intrahousehold relations are, in turn, shaped by women’s participation in innovation processes and broader societal changes, particularly the outmigration of rural men. Based on these insights, we offer recommendations for improving the dissemination and uptake of on-farm restoration practices in eastern Kenya and achieving more inclusive and gender-equitable outcomes.
Tag: Decision-making
Assessment of women's benefits and constraints in participating in agroforestry exemplar landscapes.
Participating in AFLi Exemplar project has positive impacts on ethnic women such as increasing their network, decision making skills, public speaking skills. However, the rate of female farmers accessing and using project extension materials or participated in project nurseries and applying agroforestry techniques remains limited. This requires understanding of the real needs and interests grounded in those socio-cultural contexts as the ethnic groups living in the Northern mountain areas in Vietnam have unique social and cultural norms and values. The case studies have shown that agricultural activities are highly gendered, in which men and women play specific roles and have different particular constraints and interests. Women are highly constrained by gender norms, access to resources, decision-making power and a prevailing positive-feedback loop of time poverty, especially in H’mong community. A holistic, time-saving approach to addressing women’s daily activities could reduce the effects of time poverty and increase project participation. As women were highly willing to share project information, project impacts would be more successful with increased participation from women by utilizing informal channels of communication and knowledge dissemination. Extension materials designed for ethnic women should have less text and more visualization. Access to information is a vital constraint that perpetuates the norm that men are decision-makers thereby enhancing their perceived ownership, where women have limited access to information and so leave final decisions to men, especially in Hmong families. Old H’mong women have Vietnamese language barrier which prevent them from accessing project materials. Further research into an adaptive framework which can be applied in a variety of contexts is recommended. This framework should prioritize time-saving activities for women and include materials highlighting key considerations to maintain accountability among project support staff.