Tropentag, September 10 - 12, 2025, Bonn "Reconciling land system changes with planetary health"

Gender issues in scaling of climate-smart forages in smallholder farms in Kenya and Uganda

¹Egerton University, Gender, Women and Development, Kenya
²The Alliance of Bioversity International & CIAT, Trop. Forages Program, Kenya
³Egerton University, Gender, Women and Development, Kenya
⁴Egerton University, Crops, Kenya
⁵The Alliance of Bioversity International & CIAT, Kenya

Abstract

Gender relations play an important role in agricultural activities among smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and this creates pertinence of inclusive and gender-responsive approach when promoting interventions. We used a mixed-method approach to investigate the gender dynamics associated with scaling up of improved planted forages, in smallholder farms in two counties in Kenya, and two districts in Uganda where the “grass2cash (Phase II)” project was implemented. Results showed that in both countries about one-third of households (18 to 22%) were female-headed, with over 90% relying on agriculture as their primary source of livelihood. In majority of households in both countries, women were more involved in fodder management while men and hired workers were responsible for harvesting, processing and marketing. Decisions on land and input allocation were mostly made by men or jointly by husband and wife and it is only in women headed households majority of whom were widows, where women made most of the decisions. Nevertheless, there were more women in Kenya making decisions on various aspects of forage production than in Uganda. Although the most common forage species were similar across all households in both countries, women preferred forages which were associated with high nutritional value and increased milk yield while men preferred those with high biomass production and were easy to market. Most farmers regardless of gender obtained information from fellow farmers and field days but valued information obtained from extension workers. This study highlights the potential for commercialisation of planted forages among smallholder farmers in Kenya and Uganda, and recommends a scaling approach that promote the participation of women in all activities and ensures the availability of panting material of high-quality forages.

Keywords: Gender, planted forages, scaling, smallholder farmers

Contact Address: Margaret Lukuyu, Egerton University, Gender, Women and Development, Box 536, 20115 Njoro, Kenya, e-mail: margaret.lukuyugmail.com