S E E D S O F C H A N G E
C O N F E R E N C E
A P R I L 2 0 1 9 ,
C A N B E R R A
Commercializing OFSP in Mozambique: a
gendered perspective
Mayanja Sarah, Netsayi
Mudege; Norman Kwikiriza &
Eliah Munda, CIP-SSA

BACKGROUND
SUSTAIN Project was a scaling project that aimed at reaching end-
users with nutritious Orange Fleshed Sweetpotato (OFSP) in
Mozambique
The project focused on three thematic areas:
1) Development of the seed system
2) Nutrition enhancement and
3) Value Chain Development (VCD).
We conducted a gender study to assess the effects of OFSP
commercialization initiatives on the livelihoods of women and
men value chain actors

THE STUDY AREA

THE GENDER STUDY IN MANHICA AND MACATE DISTRICTS
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
How does commercialization of
sweetpotato value chains affect
(positively or negatively) ;
a) The wellbeing of
smallholder farmers and
their families,
b) The well being of women
c) Participation of women in
as producers, traders,
processors, and
consumers?
8 8
20
41
60
0
10
20
10
62
10
21
0
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Men farmer
FGD
Women farmer
FGD
IDI commercial
actors
Traders KII (Processor)
Study participants
Number of events Number of men Number of women

METHODS AND TOOLS
METHODS
Sex disaggregated FGDs
Individual Interviews
Market survey
Midline survey
TOOLS
Gender based constraints
analysis tool
Ladder of Life Tool
Comparison Tool
Mock budgets

Socio economic
characteristics
Low literacy levels
may affect business
proficiency
Low commercial
orientation for both
men and women
7
23
19.4
6.6
11
17
0
5
10
15
20
25
Household
size
Education Major
economic
occupation
Respondents(%)
Men Women

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES: MEN AND WOMEN’s PERCEPTION
IN CHINAMBUDZI, MANHICA DISTRICT
Activities carried out by
chain actor
Roles and responsibilities
low=x, medium=xx, high=xxx
Female’s perceptions Men’ perception
Male Female Female Male
Land identification XX XX XX XX
Acquirement of vines XX XX XX
Making ridges X XX XX XXX
Prepare vines & planting XX XX XX XX
Weeding XX XX XX XX
Monitoring – pest & diseases XX XX XX XXX
Harvesting roots XX XX XX XX
Marketing XXX XXX XX
Consumption XX XX XX XX

Trends in OFSP commercialization
• Men sold at a slightly higher
price (462M/bag) compared to
women (424 M/bag)
• Value of sales for men was higher
by 1350 M than for women
• women’s sweetpotato plots were
double the size of men’s plots
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Grow only
OFSP
Sales (50kg
bags)
Sell OFSP
Men Women

Ability to make production decisions
0
1
2
3
4
What crop to grow? Acreage to allocate? Allocation to food
crops vs. cash crops
Variety to plant Adoption of new
technologies
Women 2015 Women Now Men 2015 Men Now

Socio-economic benefits obtained
0
5
10
15
20
25
FrequencyofmentioninIDI&FGDs
IDI F IDI M FGD F FGD M
 DVMs benefitted more (bought motorbikes, built new houses, retail enterprises).
 Men dominate DVM business. (only 25% were women)
 Women got market experience; avoided selling to brokers, worked closely with husbands
 3 IDIs mentioned to have sold to Zebra farms, but this was not sustained

MAJOR CONSTRAINTS FACED
0 5 10 15
Vine conservation
Land issues
Animal traction
Price fluctuation
Consistent production
Pests & diseases
Bad roads/transport
Access to tools
Middlemen
No market/industries
Lack of labour
# of times mentioned in FGD and IDIs
Constraintsfaced
IDI F IDI M FGD W FGD M

TYPES OF
SWEETPOTATO
TRADED
90.2
22
87.8
0
20
40
60
80
100
White
fleshed
Yellow
fleshed
OFSP
Sweetpotato type
27.5
57.5
15
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Less than 50% 50-70% Above 70%
Proportion of purchases from women
SWEETPOTATO PURCHASES
• The traders mostly purchased sweetpotatoes from women (35.7%)
• Only 10.7% mentioned that they mostly bought from men.
• Others (53.6%) bought from both men and women

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
a) More women than men were engaged in production and trading
of roots.
b) Men commercial producers invested more inputs than women.
c) OFSP was traded by 88% of the traders: growing significance
d) Most women producers cum traders recognized the importance of
working closely with their spouses.
e) Vine trading still dominated by men (75%) – but women
engagement commendable given the trends in SSA.
RECOMMENDATIONS
1) Improve women’s capacity to engage in business (FAL, simple
business ledgers)
2) Linkages between smallscale producers, traders and processors

gender.cgiar.org
We would like to acknowledge all CGIAR Research Programs
and Centers for supporting the participation of their gender
scientists to the Seeds of Change conference.
Photo: Neil Palmer/IWMI