1. Can labour saving
technologies help rural
women in Uganda?
Florence L. Kiyimba
National Agricultural Research
Organization
ICWES15 Australia 2011 - Adelaide 19-22
15 August 2011 July

2. THE NEW
SUDAN
N
DRC
KENYA
MASAKA
0 100 200 Kilometers
BURUNDI & RWANDA TANZANIA
15 August ICWES15 Australia 2011 - Adelaide 19-22
2011 July

3. ICWES15 Australia 2011 - Adelaide 19-22
July
15 August 2011

4. ICWES15 Australia 2011 - Adelaide 19-22
15 August 2011 July

5. Argument
 Simply targeting women is not
empowering
 Impacts of technology influenced by
hhold organization
 Activities, labour, resources
 Women’s welfare based on complex
interactions within hholds
 Important to understand how
technology intertwines with these.
ICWES15 Australia 2011 - Adelaide 19-22
15 August 2011 July

6. Objective
 How FC consolidates or transforms
gender relations
 How & whether it works as a labour
saving device
 Examining assumptions about gender
 Intra- & inter-hholds impacts on gender
relations
 Effects of targeting women
ICWES15 Australia 2011 - Adelaide 19-22
15 August 2011 July

7. Methodology
 Study area
 4 dairying sub-counties in Masaka
 Population: Smallholder dairy
farmers
 2 farmer categories selected
 Village sampling unit
 Household analysis unit
ICWES15 Australia 2011 - Adelaide 19-22
15 August 2011 July

8. Methodology
cont…
 Technographic research
 Study technology in everyday life
 Qualitative realistic evaluation
 Describing socially active technology
 Map out different social entities: actors,
activities
 Resources being mobilized
 Interaction of these with technology as
they use it
ICWES15 Australia 2011 - Adelaide 19-22
15 August 2011 July

9. Intra-household
organization
 Constructing users – “virtual user”
 Women for zero grazing
 High feed requirements
 High labour demands
 Low farm productivity
 Context of users – “actual user”
 Labour patterns
 Economic activities/resources
ICWES15 Australia 2011 - Adelaide 19-22
15 August 2011 July

10. Context of actual
users
 3 types of households: MH, FH, FM
 Livestock labour: family, hired, both
50
45
40
No. of households
35
30 Male headed
25 Female headed
20 Female managed
15
10
5
0
Family labour Hired labour Both
Labour source
ICWES15 Australia 2011 - Adelaide 19-22
15 August 2011 July

11. Context of actual users
cont…
 Main economic resource/assets: land,
houses, cattle
80
70
60
No. of Hholds
50 Land
40 House
30 Cattle
20
10
0
M W JC JOC W I C M W JOC
Male headed Female headed Female managed
Household category
ICWES15 Australia 2011 - Adelaide 19-22
15 August 2011 July

12. Impact on labour
 Saved labour & time but in what
context & whose labour?
ICWES15 Australia 2011 - Adelaide 19-22
15 August 2011 July

13. Impact on labour cont…
ICWES15 Australia 2011 - Adelaide 19-22
15 August 2011 July

14. Impact on labour
cont…
 Two possible interpretations:
 Technology use allowed redefinition of
roles
 Decision to adopt depended on
availability of family labour
 KEY to women’s empowerment:
 Power to control or influence
reallocation of saved labour
 Saved labour used to increase
incomes whose allocation women
ICWES15 Australia 2011 - Adelaide 19-22
influenced
15 August 2011 July

15. Income allocation
 Two fold: increase and decrease
 Increased income:
 Saving on hired labour cost
 Increased milk yield more money
 Decreased income:
 Initial cost of technology
nonusers
 Repair and maintenance
expelled lot
 Ability to control or influence
ICWES15 Australia 2011 - Adelaide 19-22
allocation was therefore key
15 August 2011 July

16. Implication
 Several elements had to be mobilized
 Users, households & gender relation
not fixed
 Empowering women with technology
needs understanding of all these
 Technology + household composition +
gender relations = determine use of
technology
ICWES15 Australia 2011 - Adelaide 19-22
15 August 2011 July

17. Conclusions
 To put emphasis on women: increase
access
! Detailed understanding of how gender
relations are negotiated & transformed
! Increasing access alone ≠ empowering
! Understanding context of actual user is
key
! Making a technology work needs
understanding what resources users
ICWES15 Australia 2011 - Adelaide 19-22
15 August 2011 July

18. Thank You
ICWES15 Australia 2011 - Adelaide 19-22
15 August 2011 July