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Female Household-Headship, Agricultural Productivity, and Factor and Output Markets: The Case of Uganda’s Cotton Smallholder Farmers

My PhD project focuses on the effects of gender inequity in Uganda’s cotton sector linking agricultural productivity, input and output markets, and gender in an agricultural economics framework. The key aim of my thesis is to provide inputs to development policy and programming activities in low-income agricultural settings. Gender is increasingly seen as a critical cross-cutting issue in sustainable development. Yet, systematic analysis of gender in agriculture remains an under-researched area. By generating new insight into gender dynamics and implications in this setting, the thesis aims to contribute to government policymaking and NGO programming. Further, removing or reducing this gender gap in cotton would not only have implications for the competitiveness of the cotton sector, but could also have spillover effects of increased output and exports of other crops (Larson and Deininger, 2001; Baffes and Maratou-Kolias, 2013). Studies have shown that women take better care of their children since they often make more nutrition-sensitive consumption decisions (Smith et al., 2003). Therefore, the thesis also aims to contribute to the increased nutrition sensitivity of agriculture by improving gender parity in the sector.

Panel data was collected from a two-round cotton sector survey (2009, 2010) at the household, plot, instalment, and community levels funded by the World Bank. The data represent Uganda's cotton sector but are not nationally representative.

My research methods include statistical and econometric analyses.

Supervisors: Prof Bhavani Shankar, Dr Gregory Cooper