Tropentag, September 17 - 19, 2014 in Prague, Czech Republic "Bridging the gap between increasing knowledge and decreasing resources"

Cultural and Gender Differences in Assessing Upgrading Strategies (UPS) for Enhancing Food Security in Tanzania

¹Leibniz-Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF e.V.), Inst. for Socioeconomics, Germany
²Leibniz-Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF e.V.), Inst. for Land Use Systems, Germany

Abstract

Developing best suitable strategies to upgrade food security in rural poor areas needs experts and stakeholders from all fields of the food value chain. Thereby, among others nationality, cultural background and gender may influence their assessment on potential and feasibility for the implementation of such strategies.
We present the outcome of an ex-ante expert assessment of upgrading strategies (UPS) for two case study regions in Tanzania (Dodoma and Morogoro). Using a questionnaire for the assessment of the potential and feasibility of UPS among different food value chain components, the expertise of German and Tanzanian scientists was collected. 29 out of 90 scientists responded to our questionnaire. These scientists are members of a larger research consortium called Trans-SEC “Innovating Strategies to safeguard Food Security using Technology and Knowledge Transfer: A people-centred approach”.
Hence we gained information on UPS which were assessed as suitable for improving food security for smallholder agriculture. Expertise on obstacles regarding the implementation of the proposed UPS was evaluated as well. Among other factors we determined the influence of nationality and gender of the scientists on the assessment of the UPS.
Interestingly, results show clear differences between Tanzanian and German, and between male and female researchers. They were found throughout all food value chain components and most UPS between both regions. However, only a few of these differences were statistically significant. According to their nationality and cultural background, assessments by German and Tanzanian scientists varied strongly, especially regarding Dodoma region, but in all components of the food value chain. The main differences between assessments of male and female scientists were found for the food value chain components of food processing, consumption and waste management components. However, gender related differences in responses were not as strong as those between scientists' nationalities.

Keywords: Food value chains, gender, nationality, upgrading strategies

Contact Address: Isa Laura Schneider, Leibniz-Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF e.V.), Inst. for Socioeconomics, Tuerrschmidtstraße 34b, 10317 Berlin, Germany, e-mail: isalaura.schneidergmail.com