Gender differences in employment and why they matter
F I G U R E 5.13
Female-headed households in rural areas are less likely than maleheaded households to have received credit in the last 12 months
Household access to credit in rural areas Indonesia Vietnam Nepal Malawi Bulgaria Guatemala Panama Ghana 0
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 % receiving credit in last year
female head of household (no male)
male head of household
female head of household, with at least one working age (15–59) male
Source: World Bank/Food and Agriculture Organization database, most recent year available.
to use additional production inputs are affected by these resources. Second, access to markets, investment decisions, and growth potential reflect, to some extent, existing constraints on farmers or business owners, as well as their capacity to overcome them. In other words, gender differences in access to land and credit affect the relative ability of female and male farmers and entrepreneurs to invest, operate to scale, and benefit from new economic opportunities. The combination of small plots, insecure land rights, and binding credit constraints limits female farmers’ ability to use agricultural inputs and technology. Women have lower access than men to agricultural inputs, including fertilizer, pesticides, and improved seed varieties.127 In all countries in our database, female-headed households are less likely to use fertilizer than male-headed households, with differences ranging from 25 percentage points in Pakistan to 2 percentage points in Nicaragua.128 The same is true for mechanization—the use of ploughs, tractors, water pumps, and other agricultural
machinery. The gap in rates of machinery use between female- and male-headed households ranges from almost 20 percentage points in Guatemala and Nicaragua to less than 1 percentage point in Indonesia and Tajikistan, with the gap in most countries 5 percentage points or more (figure 5.14). Land size and, more generally, the capacity to produce at scale determine input use and mechanization.129 So, women suffer disproportionately from indivisibilities in the use of inputs and machinery because they cultivate smaller plots and thus are more likely than men to experience higher unit costs. Credit (and cash) constraints are also important. One of the most prominent barriers to the use of fertilizer is capital. Similarly, the large financial outlays for mechanization suggest that credit constraints explain some of the gender differences, although the evidence for this conclusion is sparser. That women are less likely to cultivate cash crops may imply that it is not worthwhile to invest in agricultural inputs or machines.130 Gender differences in access to land, credit, and labor also affect women’s capacity to access markets and take advantage of new economic opportunities. Female-headed households sell a lower fraction of their agricultural output in the market than male-headed households in 14 of the 16 countries in our database (Bangladesh and Nicaragua are exceptions). Gender differences in market access are largest in Pakistan (25 percentage points) and lowest in Ghana and Tajikistan (2–3 percentage points)—two countries with the lowest overall market penetration (see figure 5.14). Gender differences in access to markets are even more marked for export agriculture.131 In the Central Highlands of Guatemala, women hold only 3 percent of contracts for snow peas and broccoli (two of the most important crops grown for export in the area).132 In South Africa, Senegal, and China, processing firm managers prefer to sign export contracts with men because women have limited access to productive assets, lack statutory rights over land, and have less authority over family (and therefore over potential farm labor).133 In Guatemala, women’s independent—but not joint—ownership of land was found to be a significant predictor of women’s participation in nontraditional agro-export production.134 Smaller plots and lower capitalizations among female farmers also act as barriers to entering into the export sector.135 In northern Nigeria,
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