Impact of soil conservation adoption on intra‐household allocations in Zambia

• Published date: 01 November 2018
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/rode.12397
• Date: 01 November 2018
• Author: Conor Carney,Monica Harber Carney

SPECIAL ISSUE ARTICLE

Impact of soil conservation adoption on intra-

household allocations in Zambia

Conor Carney

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Monica Harber Carney

2

1

The Brattle Group, Boston, MA, USA.

2

Department of Economics, College of

the Holy Cross, Worcester, MA, USA.

Correspondence

Monica Harber Carney, Department of

Economics, College of the Holy Cross, 1

College Street, Worcester, MA 01610,

USA.

Email: mcarney@holycross.edu

Funding Information

United Nations University World Institute

for Development Economics Research

(UNU-WIDER).

Abstract

Anecdotal evidence suggests that training in soil conserva-

tion techniques may lead to greater female involvement in

agricultural production in sub-Saharan Africa, but little is

known about the causal relationship. We test this relation-

ship empirically, examining the impact of soil conservation

training sessions on female agricultural labor contributions

within households in Zambia. Moreover, we explore the

short-run effects of increased female agricultural productiv-

ity on female empowerment through measurement of

changes in gender-specific resource allocations within the

household. The extension of funding of conservation farm-

ing (CF) training sessions in 2007 in specific districts in

Zambia provides variation in CF take-up. We use this vari-

ation to implement a difference-in-differences strategy on a

number of datasets. Our results suggest that expansion of

funding for CF training sessions increased take-up of CF,

increased female labor hours, and shifted household expen-

ditures toward goods associated more strongly with female

preferences than male preferences. These results show the

importance of understanding the impact of development

programs, specifically promotion of agricultural technolo-

gies, on household gender dynamics.

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This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution

and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.

©2018 UNU-WIDER. Review of Development Economics published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd

DOI: 10.1111/rode.12397

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INTRODUCTION

Agricultural productivity in sub-Saharan African lags behind that of other regions. While other

areas have seen crop production per capita as much as double in the last fifty years, production in

sub-Saharan Africa has remained virtually unchanged (Food and Agriculture Organization,

2012). One reason for this lack of growth in productivity is soil degradation from intensive til-

lage agriculture. The Dust Bowl in the United States occurred as a result of similar practices

and has since led to a sharp increase in the usage of the alternative, conservation farming (CF)

methods. A primary feature of CF methods is minimum tillage, leaving soil intact to preserve

nutrients and moisture and prevent erosion. While 25.5 percent of land in the USA was farmed

using conservation practices in 2007, less than 1 percent of land in sub-Saharan Africa was

farmed with these methods (Derpsch and Friedrich, 2010). In recent years, considerable

resources have been devoted to CF training programs in Africa for this reason. While this pri-

mary motivation for the promotion of such programs is compelling, little research has been

conducted on the household impacts of conservation farming, in particular the impact on the

division of labor and gender norms within the household in sub-Saharan Africa. We contribute

to studies of the impact of CF training programs by testing whether such training programs

can not only improve agricultural productivity, which has already been proven to be the case,

but also engage women in labor activities outside the household, thereby empowering them and

providing a “win–win”scenario for donors.

The existing literature suggests that traditional agricultural practices associated with the

plough, the main method of soil tillage, influenced the historical gender division of labor and the

evolution of gender norms. In particular, cultures that used the plough historically have been

shown in the present to have lower rates of female participation in the labor market, politics,

and entrepreneurial activities (Alesina et al., 2013). The primary explanation for this connection

is that men had a comparative advantage when using the plough, due to the upper body strength

required in its use, leading to a division of labor along gender lines between agricultural activi-

ties and domestic production. The historical alternative to use of the plough, use of CF methods,

is associated with relatively higher levels of gender equality. Though the long-run connection

between CF methods and gender equality has been studied, to our knowledge, no previous

papers have evaluated the ability of development programs focused on CF to improve gender

norms in the short run. Moreover, the primary mechanism through which CF impacts gender

norms has not been proven. We test whether one possible mechanism could be the increased

involvement of women in agricultural activities.

1

We specifically contribute to the literature by testing the impact of CF training in Zambia on

the gender division of labor at the household level as a primary mechanism through which agricul-

tural methods may impact gender norms. We suggest that CF training causes a shift from usage of

a gender-biased agricultural technology to a gender-neutral technology through adoption of CF

methods. In order to identify the impact of CF, we use a difference-in-differences strategy exploit-

ing the regional variation in a CF training expansion that took place in Zambia in 2007. We find

that CF training increased the take-up of CF within households and also increased the agricultural

labor hours of females relative to males. Through our findings we provide valuable information for

donors about the often overlooked household impacts of CF development programs. We also fill a

gap in the literature regarding the primary mechanism through which CF farming impacts gender

norms, providing additional information about the short-run impacts of a shift from use of the

plough to CF.

CARNEY AND CARNEY

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