Gender Division of Labour in Food Production and Impact on Household Food Security and Child Nutrition in Rural Rukwa,Tan
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CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by NORA - Norwegian Open Research Archives GENDER DIVISION OF LABOUR IN FOOD PRODUCTION AND DECISION MAKING POWER AND IMPACT ON HOUSEHOLD FOOD SECURITY AND CHILD NUTRITION IN RURAL RUKWA, TANZANIA. Tiransia Arthur Shoo Main Supervisor Prof. Gerd Holmboe-Ottesen Department of Community Medicine, Institute of Health and Society University of Oslo, Norway Co-supervisor Prof. Joyce Kinabo Sokoine University of Agriculture,Tanzania Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of Master of Philosophy degree in International Community Health May, 2011 ABSTRACT Background Food insecurity which is the one of the causes of child malnutrition is still prevalent in Tanzania. One of the causes of food insecurity as it has been reported by other scholars is gender inequality. Women, especially in developing countries have been reported to have very high workload in food production compared to men and in decision making power they are often subordinate to men. Other studies have showed that gender roles are dynamic and they change over time with economic opportunities. In Tanzania, no current studies have looked at how gender division of labour affects food security and child nutrition. However, this is a follow up of a study which was done in the Rukwa Region in Tanzania in 1987/1988. Objectives The aim was to determine gender division of labour in agriculture and decision making power and their impacts on household food security and child nutrition Methodology A cross-sectional survey was conducted in 152 households in Msanzi village. The father and mother were interviewed separately. One random selected child below five years of age was included for assessment of weight, height and age in order to determine nutritional status Results Both men and women participated in agricultural activities but women worked more days in the field than men. All activities were done by men and women except ploughing which was a man‟s work. Women worked very heavily particularly in the work of weeding which is the longest and tiring activity. In addition women worked more in subsistence crops compared to men. Food insecurity prevalence was high. As many as 47.7% reported food insufficiency in the last 12 months. 58.8% did not have maize stock for one month or longer time. Malnutrition rates found were also high, 63.8% stunted, 33.6% underweight and 2.6% wasted. Men‟s and women‟s workload put together in the field was observed to decrease the number of months without food stock and to increase energy availability per consumption unit though not significantly. Underweight in children was found to be significantly associated with food insecurity. It was also observed to associate with women‟s workload. The women who 1 worked with the highest input in the fields were found to more likely to have children being malnourished. Further dry season cultivation was observed to increase the prevalence of underweight in children despite the fact that it was found to significantly increase food security in the household. In decision making, most decisions were made by father and mother together or father alone. Women made seldom decision alone. Comparing our results with the 1987/1988 study, it was obvious that not much has changed in the area. Women still spend more time in the field than men. Food insecurity was at the same high level and the rate of underweight was similar to what was found in the former study. In addition, women still had low decision making power compared to men. Conclusion Women are the ones who carry the major tasks of food production. Further in this study it was found that women high work in the field can impact child nutrition. Interventions should be targeted to women as there are observed to be the major producer of food. Intervention should target at empowering them in terms of education/capacity building to reduce gender inequity and also to provide them with nutritional education. 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I am indebted to extend my sincere notes of thanks to the following individuals for their tireless and long lasting efforts which at last culminated to the successful production of this dissertation work which is now ready for submission for my degree award. I will not be able to mention each and everybody but the following deserve a mention. Gerd Holmboe-Ottesen (my main supervisor) for her supervisory work and constructive criticism during the whole period from proposal writing to dissertation writing. Your patience, support and encouragement have significantly contributed to this work. My sincere thanks to Joyce Kinabo(my co-supervisor) for the inputs she brought into this thesis and for assistance in critical issues like ethical clearance. She was so instrumental in providing an enabling environment during field work. Margareta Wandel, for the advices, and her useful inputs she brought to this study in proposal and thesis writing up. The Norwegian Quota programme for Masters Studies; for providing the funds for my studies here in Norway. I am also grateful to my fellow class mates, for the best stimulating environment, academically and socially and everybody else who we interacted on daily basis during the entire study program „Asante kalesa‟ Sunniva Nordang (my fellow researcher) you have been a great and valuable friend throughout this whole period. I will always cherish the friendship we have made. „Karibu tena Tanzania‟. Finally, I am especially grateful to my family and friends for always giving me the encouragement and support throughout the whole period of my master program. Special thanks to Erick Mlanga, my husband, your love, support and encouragement have helped me reach this far. 3 Contents ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................................................... 7 1. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 8 1.1. Summary of the former study .................................................................................... 8 1.1. Background ................................................................................................................ 9 2. LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................................. 11 3. COUNTRY PROFILE- TANZANIA ............................................................................... 14 3.2. The study area. .............................................................................................................. 15 4. PROBLEM STATEMENT AND RATIONALE AND STUDY ..................................... 16 4.1. Problem Statement ................................................................................................... 16 4.2. Rationale .................................................................................................................. 17 4.4. Objectives of the study............................................................................................. 20 4.4.1. General Objective: ............................................................................................... 20 4.4.2. Specific objectives: .............................................................................................. 20 4.4.3. Research questions ............................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. 5. METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................................... 20 5.1. Study area................................................................................................................. 20 5.2. Study design and population .................................................................................... 20 5.2.1. Study design ......................................................................................................... 20 5.2.2. Study population .................................................................................................. 20 5.3. Sample size .............................................................................................................. 21 5.3.1. Sampling procedure ............................................................................................. 22 5.4. Ethical Clearance ..................................................................................................... 22 4 5.5. Data collection procedures ....................................................................................... 23 5.5.1. Research assistant and sub village leaders ........................................................... 23 5.5.2. Pre-testing. ........................................................................................................... 23 5.5.3. Data collection tools ................................................................................................ 24 5.6. Variables .................................................................................................................. 26 5.6.1. Dependent variable .............................................................................................. 26 5.6.2. Independent variable ............................................................................................ 29 5.7. Data handling and analysis ...................................................................................... 31 6. RESULTS ..........................................................................................................................