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Crop Choice, Drought and Gender: New Insights from Smallholders’ Response to Weather Shocks in Rural Uganda

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  • Peter Agamile
  • Ralitza Dimova
  • Jennifer Golan

Abstract

We analyse gender differences in the response of smallholder farmers to droughts, taking the duration and severity of the event into account. Using a novel weather shock measure that combines spatial rainfall data with detailed cropping calendars, survey data from Uganda and standard econometric techniques, we find that adverse weather events provide an opportunity for women to enter the commercial crop market by allocating land from subsistence to income generating crops. This counterintuitive pattern is, in part, explained by the greater propensity of men to allocate time to non‐agricultural activities in the event of weather shocks.

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  • Peter Agamile & Ralitza Dimova & Jennifer Golan, 2021. "Crop Choice, Drought and Gender: New Insights from Smallholders’ Response to Weather Shocks in Rural Uganda," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 72(3), pages 829-856, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jageco:v:72:y:2021:i:3:p:829-856
    DOI: 10.1111/1477-9552.12427
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    2. Afridi, Farzana & Mahajan, Kanika & Sangwan, Nikita, 2021. "The Gendered Effects of Climate Change: Production Shocks and Labor Response in Agriculture," IZA Discussion Papers 14568, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Surendran Arumugam & Ramu Govindasamy & James E. Simon & Emil Wyk & Burhan Ozkan, 2022. "Market outlet choices for African Indigenous Vegetables (AIVs): a socio-economic analysis of farmers in Zambia," Agricultural and Food Economics, Springer;Italian Society of Agricultural Economics (SIDEA), vol. 10(1), pages 1-13, December.
    4. Jose, Anu, 2024. "Income shocks and intrahousehold resource allocation: evidence from rural Ethiopia," MPRA Paper 121873, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Lijin Liu & Yilin Wu, 2024. "Drought shocks, adaptive strategies, and vulnerability to relative poverty," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 120(14), pages 12679-12703, November.
    6. Afridi, Farzana & Mahajan, Kanika & Sangwan, Nikita, 2022. "The gendered effects of droughts: Production shocks and labor response in agriculture," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    7. Amolegbe, Khadijat Busola & Fontep, Eugenie Rose & Ahodode, Bernadin Géraud Comlan & Pagal, Emmanuelle Dorcas Mbanga & Ardelkrim, Araar, 2023. "Gendered Effects of Crop Diversification and Climate Shocks on Household Food Security Status in Nigeria," 97th Annual Conference, March 27-29, 2023, Warwick University, Coventry, UK 334551, Agricultural Economics Society - AES.

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