1. 國立屏東科技大學熱帶農業暨國際合作系
Department of Tropical Agriculture and International Cooperation
National Pingtung University of Science and Technology
碩士學位論文
Master’s Thesis
透過比較分析以賦權馬拉威婦女農民之研究
A Study of Women Farmers’ Empowerment in Malawi through Competitive
Analyses
指導教授: 鍾惠雯 (Rebecca Chung, PhD)
研究生: (Loveness Msofi)
中華民國 2012 年 6 月 7 日
表格編號： M06
June 7, 2012

3. 摘要
學號: M9922019
論文題目: 透過比較分析以賦權馬拉威婦女農民之研究
總頁數:
學校名稱: 國立屏東科技大學系 (所) 別: 熱帶農業暨國際合作研究所
畢業時間及摘要別: 碩士
研究生姓名: 指導教授: 鍾惠雯
論文摘要內容:
馬拉維是其經濟嚴重依賴農業的最不發達國家之一。女農民作為
生產者，工人和企業家在農業部門發揮至關重要的作用。然而，他們遇
到很多挑戰，這限制了他們的潛力充分促進該部門的經濟重要性。由於
這個原因，一些干預已發展到授權和支持女農民。本研究的主要目的是
通過競爭性分析，以確定婦女農民權力和建議的最佳策略，以提高他們
的競爭力。研究中使用的 SWOT 分析的優勢，劣勢，機會和威脅進行分
析，來賦予婦女農民的戰略。該研究還分析了競爭力，確定基於波特的
鑽石模型，採用層次分析法（AHP ）的元素。研究中使用的意見領袖誰
是熟悉婦女農民偏好數據。 45 受訪者包括 5 研究人員，10 個推廣工作
者和 30 個農民選擇從 Ru m p hi 在馬拉維北部地區的區。結果顯示，受訪
者有不同的優先級，以提高婦女農民的競爭力的重要因素。與會者認為，
需求條件，戰略，結構和競爭，以及政府的作用是最重要的。與會者還
認為，最重要的因素是市場的可用性，可用性和電源輸入和合同農業的
一致性。結果還顯示，賦予婦女權力的農民最重要的替代戰略，形成生
產營銷隊伍（光電倍增管），擴展可用性和培訓，以及建立婦女農民協
會。總之，這些結果為女性農民有關的政策和方案發展提供了重要的見
解。
I

4. 它也可以建議有需要利益相關者之間的合作，賦予婦女權力的農民，使
他們能夠在農業部門的競爭力，成為與適當的干預措施來。
關鍵詞：馬拉維婦女農民，增強能力，提高競爭力，SWOT 分析，波特
的鑽石模型，層次分析法（AHP ）
II

5. English Abstract
Student ID: M9922019
Title of thesis: A Study of Women Farmers’ Empowerment in Malawi
through Competitive Analyses
Total pages:
Name of institute: Department of Tropical Agriculture and International
Cooperation, National Pingtung University of Science and
Technology
Graduation date: June 15, 2012 Degree Conferred: Masters
Name of student: Loveness Msofi Advisor: Rebecca Chung, PhD
The content of abstract in this thesis:
The contribution of Malawian women farmers to the agriculture sector
cannot be overemphasized. However, women farmers face many challenges
that limit their potential to contribute fully to the economic importance of the
sector. In response, a number of interventions have been developed which are
aimed at empowering and supporting women farmers. The main objective of
this study was to determine women farmers’ empowerment through
competitive analyses. This was done by identifying factors of competitiveness
and determining their importance in empowering women farmers. The study
used a SWOT analysis to come up with strengths, weaknesses, opportunities
and threats and to formulate strategies for empowering women farmers. A
Porter’s Diamond Model was used to identify factors of competitiveness.
Then, an Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method was employed to
determine the importance of the competitiveness factors. The study used
III

6. preference data from experts who are familiar with issues concerning women
farmers. A total of 45 respondents comprising of 5 researchers, 10 extension
IV

7. workers and 30 women farmers was selected for this study. The participants
perceived that demand conditions, government role and strategy, structure and
rivalry were the most important factors. Participants also perceived that the
most important sub-factors were availability of markets, availability and
consistency of supply inputs and contract farming. Results also revealed that
the most important alternative strategies for empowering women farmers were
establishment of women farmers associations, availability of extension and
training as well as formation of Production Marketing Teams (PMTs). In
conclusion, these results provide important insights for policy and program
developments relating to women farmers. Results revealed that respondents
had different priorities regarding the important factors and alternative
strategies. This shows that there is no single strategy that is superior in
empowering women farmers to enhance their competitiveness. Therefore, it
can be recommended that there is need to use multiple alternative strategies
for empowering women farmers. There is also need for collaboration among
the stakeholders, to come up with appropriate interventions for empowering
women farmers so that they can become competitive in the agricultural sector.
Keywords: Malawian women farmers, empowerment, competitiveness, SWOT
analysis, Porter’s Diamond Model, Analytic Hierarchy Process
(AHP)
V

8. Dedication
I dedicate this paper to family, my dad B.S. Msofi; my mum Esnart
Cecilia Msofi; my siblings Peter, Dominic, Raphael, Stuart, Bias, and
Dorothy for their love and support throughout the period of my study. Special
thanks to my lovely sister Bernadette who assisted me in collecting data for
this research. I also dedicate my work to my love Elton Eric Chikondi
Mgalamadzi for being there for me and encouraging me throughout my study
period. You all mean a lot to me and I love you all very much.
VI

9. Acknowledgements
First, I would like to thank God for giving me courage, wisdom and
patience to make this possible. I also thank NPUST Scholarship for giving me
the opportunity to study in Taiwan and to get my Masters degree. I really
appreciate the support and guidance from Barbara and all the Office of
International Affairs staff.
I would like to acknowledge the input and supervision of my Advisor
Dr. Rebecca Chung. You were very encouraging, you tirelessly helped me
throughout the writing of this paper and contributing positively to my career
and professional life, you will always be remembered for that. You made me
strong and I have learned a lot from you that will help me grow.
Similarly, I am thankful to each professor that taught me and helped me
gain knowledge, skills and experience. I have learned a lot from you all and I
appreciate the knowledge and manners you gave me. I also thank all the staff
of DTAIC and my classmates.
My sincere gratitude also goes to my bosses at work in Malawi, Ms
Frieda Kayuni and Mr. Mataka for their efforts to ensure that I came to
Taiwan to further my studies. I am grateful to the Ministry of Agriculture and
Food Security in Malawi especially to my workmates at Blantyre District
Agriculture Office for their support.
I am also indebted to my country mates I met here in Taiwan, Mwiza,
Glory and Chifundo, for being there for me and making my life easier. I love
you all. Friends and relatives so numerous to mention please receive my
heartfelt thanks.
VII

10. Table of Contents
摘要....................................................................................................................................................I
English Abstract................................................................................................................................III
Dedication........................................................................................................................................VI
Table of Contents...........................................................................................................................VIII
List of Figures.....................................................................................................................................X
List of Tables.....................................................................................................................................XI
List of Acronyms..............................................................................................................................XII
1.Introduction....................................................................................................................................1
1.1.Background Information..........................................................................................................1
1.1.1.Agriculture in Malawi .......................................................................................................1
1.1.2.Women in Malawian Agriculture......................................................................................1
1.1.3.Women Empowerment in Malawi....................................................................................5
1.2.Research Objectives.................................................................................................................6
2.Literature Review...........................................................................................................................9
2.1.Women Empowerment...........................................................................................................9
2.2.Competitiveness ...................................................................................................................15
2.3.Methods for Measuring Competitiveness.............................................................................19
3.Methodology................................................................................................................................29
3.1.The Research Framework......................................................................................................29
3.1.1.The SWOT Analysis Application......................................................................................31
3.1.2.Strategy Formulation for Malawian Women Farmers....................................................38
3.1.3.Porter’s Diamond Model Application.............................................................................41
3.1.4.Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) Method Application...................................................47
3.2.Questionnaire Design............................................................................................................49
3.3.Sampling Plan........................................................................................................................50
3.4.Statistical Analysis..................................................................................................................51
4.Results and Discussion..................................................................................................................54
VIII

11. 4.1.Characteristics of Survey Respondents..................................................................................54
4.2.Results of Respondent’s Opinions on Elements of Competitiveness.....................................58
4.3.Results of AHP Model Analysis for the Competitiveness Elements........................................59
4.3.1.Results of Criteria Analysis..............................................................................................60
4.3.2.Factor Conditions ...........................................................................................................62
4.3.3.Demand Conditions .......................................................................................................65
4.3.4.Related and Supporting Industries .................................................................................67
4.3.5.Strategy, Structure and Rivalry ......................................................................................68
4.3.6.Government Role............................................................................................................70
4.3.7.Results of the overall analysis.........................................................................................72
4.3.8.Results of the Analysis of Alternatives............................................................................74
5.Conclusions and Recommendations.............................................................................................79
5.1.Conclusions ...........................................................................................................................79
5.2.Recommendations ................................................................................................................82
5.3.Future Research.....................................................................................................................83
References.......................................................................................................................................85
Appendices....................................................................................................................................102
Appendix I. Data Analysis Outputs ............................................................................................102
Appendix II. Questionnaire for Researchers and Extension Workers........................................113
Appendix III. Questionnaire for Farmers....................................................................................127
Bio-Sketch of the Author...............................................................................................................142
IX

12. List of Figures
Figure 3.2. Modified Diamond Model, Adapted from Porter (1990)...............................................46
Figure 3.3. AHP Hierarchical Structure ............................................................................................49
Figure 4.5. Summary of Experts’ Priorities of the Factor Conditions...............................................63
Figure 4.6. Summary of Experts’ Priorities of the Demand Conditions............................................65
Figure 4.7. Summary of Experts’ Priorities of the Related and Supporting Industries. ...................67
Figure 4.8. Summary of Experts’ Priorities of Strategy, Structure and Rivalry factors.....................69
Figure 4.9. Summary of Experts’ Priorities of the Role of the Government ....................................70
Figure 4.10. Summary of Experts’ Priorities of the Alternatives......................................................74
X

13. List of Tables
Table 3.1. SWOT Matrix for Malawian Women Farmers.................................................................40
Table 3.2. Strategies Formulated for Malawian Women Farmers...................................................41
Table 3.3. Standard Preference Scoring System for AHP, (Saaty, 1990)..........................................48
Table 3.4. Random Index Numbers (Saaty, 1990)............................................................................52
Table 4.1. Summary of Experts’ Opinions on the Elements of Competitiveness.............................58
Table 4.2. Summary of the Experts’ Priorities of the Criteria with Respect to the Goal..................61
Table 4.3. Summary of Experts’ Priorities of the Factor Conditions ................................................63
Table 4.4. Summary of Experts’ Priorities of the Demand Conditions.............................................66
Table 4.5. Summary of Experts’ Priorities of Related and Supporting Industries.............................67
Table 4.6. Summary of Experts’ Priorities of Strategy, Structure and Rivalry factors......................69
Table 4.7. Summary of Experts’ Priorities of the Role of Government............................................71
Table 4.9. Summary of Experts’ Priorities of the Alternatives.........................................................75
XI

14. List of Acronyms
AHP – Analytic Hierarchy Process
AIDS – Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome
ASTI – Agriculture Research and Technology Indicators
AWARD – African Women in Agriculture Research and Development
CSW – Commission on the Status of Women
EPA – Extension Planning Area
EU – European Union
FAO – Food and Agriculture Organisation
FISP – Farm Input Subsidy Programme
GAD – Gender and Development
GDP – Gross Domestic Product
GOM – Government of Malawi
HIV – Human Immuno-deficiency Virus
IFAD – International Fund for Agricultural Development
IFPRI – International Food Policy Research Institute
MDGs – Millennium Development Goals
XII

15. MGDS – Malawi Growth and Development Strategy
MoAFS – Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security
XIII

16. NGO – Non-Governmental Organisation
NSO – National Statistical Office
OECD – Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development
PDM – Porters Diamond Model
PMTs – Production Marketing Teams
RCA – Revealed Comparative Advantage
UNDP – United Nations Development Programs
UNICEF – United Nations Children’s Fund
WID – Women in Development
XIV

17. 1. Introduction
This chapter gives an overview of the study on women farmers’
empowerment in Malawian agriculture sector. The background information
on agriculture in Malawi will be presented besides women farmers’
contribution to the agriculture sector. Challenges that women farmers face are
presented and a brief background of women empowerment in Malawi is
presented. Furthermore, the chapter presents objectives of this research.
1.1. Background Information
1.1.1. Agriculture in Malawi
Malawi is one of the countries in Southern Africa heavily dependent on
agriculture; in 2010 it contributed about 35 percent towards Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) (World Bank, 2010). The Agricultural sector in Malawi
employs about 85 percent of the population, and provides over 80 percent of
foreign exchange which was reported in the Malawi government 2010
Integrated Household Survey (National Statistical Office, GOM, 2010).
Above all, agriculture contributes significantly to national and household food
security (GOM, 2010). Most Malawians make their daily living from small-
scale agriculture, and the majority of Malawi’s population relies on
agriculture for their livelihoods (GOM, 2010). The agricultural sector
comprises of the estates and smallholder subsectors. The smallholder
agriculture subsector contributes over 30 percent towards the Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) (World Bank, 2010).
1.1.2. Women in Malawian Agriculture
It is estimated that 70 percent of the agricultural labour force in both
smallholder and estate agriculture is provided by women (World Bank, 1991).
This indicates the importance of women farmers in Malawi; however, it also
1

18. means that women are thus particularly affected by any constraints to
productivity arising in this sector. The majority of women are found in the
2

19. smallholder agriculture sector, which is characterized by low incomes due to
low productivity and unfavorable input/output prices ratios. However, both
gender categories (men and women) are actively involved in agriculture with
different activities depending on their gender roles and priorities (Hirschmann
and Vaughan, 1984). This is because agriculture is the main source of the
majority of the people’s livelihoods in terms of cash income, food security,
and source of employment. Research has revealed that women are more
involved in agriculture than men (Saito, Mekonnen and Spurling, 1994).
Empirical evidence also reveals that despite women’s large involvement in
agriculture as workers, farmers and agro-entrepreneurs, they have not
received much of the benefits that accrue from agriculture (FAO, 2010a). This
has fueled debates as to what should be done to improve the situation so that
women farmers can benefit. Government and the private sectors have
formulated interventions for women empowerment to improve their
conditions in the agricultural sector since their role is crucial to improvement
of people’s livelihoods, as well as for the economic growth of the country. As
a result, over the years, food security has improved because of an increase in
maize production, which is a staple food, and the country has experienced an
increase in agricultural exports. In all these improvements, the contribution of
women farmers cannot be overemphasized.
Women farmers produce most of the food consumed in the domestic
and international markets. They produce a variety of crops mostly for
subsistence, which are indigenous varieties of maize, pulses, sorghum, millet,
groundnuts, cassava and vegetables. Women tend to sell surpluses of these
subsistence crops to cater for other livelihood needs of the households. On the
other hand, men concentrate on commercial cash crops that are mostly hybrid
varieties of maize, tobacco, cotton and some varieties of groundnuts high in
oil content (Cromwell and Winpenny, 1993). While literature often states that
cash and export crops are male crops while subsistence crops are cultivated by
women, the lines of distinction are often blurred (Doss, 2001).
3

20. Despite the general situation about women’s involvement in
subsistence agriculture, they are also actively involved in the commercial
agricultural production as helpers. Research indicates that under both
subsistence and cash crop farming systems, women work more hours
compared to men (Engberg, Sabry and Beckerson, 1988; Government of
Malawi (GOM)/United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), 1987). In
general, women farmers are involved in activities categorised as productive,
reproductive and community activities. As part of productive activities, they
engage in farm and off- farm activities such as crops and livestock production
and small businesses, however, their opportunities for earning income in off-
farm activities are constrained by lack of time. The reproductive activities
include child bearing and rearing, household keeping activities (cooking,
washing, cleaning, etc) (World Bank, 1991 and Davison, 1992). The
community roles of women involve attending community ceremonies and
functions including developmental activities of the community (Brydon and
Chart, 1989).
Despite efforts to improve the conditions of women in agriculture,
women farmers face a number of challenges that limit their potential to
exploit the opportunities in the agricultural sector (Tiessen, 2008). A great
deal of research has documented the challenges that women face which
include small land holding sizes and lack of land rights (World Bank, 1991;
Segal, 1986 and Kenedy and Peters, 1992). They lack access to cash income
for purchase of household consumption requirements and critical inputs (Due
and Gladwin, 1991 and Hirschmann and Vaughan, 1984). Extension services
are currently male biased in personnel and consequently in coverage, with
women farmers often suffering from exclusion (Doss, 2001; Due, Magayane,
and Temu, 1997; (GOM)/UNICEF, 1987 and Mkandawire, 1989). Women
farmers are less likely than men to use modern inputs such as improved seeds,
fertilizers, pest control measures and mechanical tools (Due and Gladwin,
1991; (GOM)/UNICEF, 1987 and Spring, 1988). They also use less credit and
4

21. often do not control the credit they obtain (World Bank, 1991; Burgess, 1991
and Hirschmann and Vaughan, 1984). Finally, women have less education,
which makes it more difficult to gain access to and use some of the other
resources, such as land, credit and fertilizer (World Bank, 1991 and GOM,
1994).
The obstacles that confront women farmers mean that their productivity
is lower than their male counterparts are. Solid empirical evidence shows that
if women farmers used the same level of resources as men on the land they
farm, they would obtain the same yield levels (Gilbert, Sakala, and Benson,
2002; Quisumbing, 1996 and FAO, 2010b). Therefore, it is necessary to
evaluate the competitiveness of women farmers in the agricultural sector.
1.1.3. Women Empowerment in Malawi
Due to the women farmer’s substantial contribution to Malawian
agriculture, efforts have been made to empower them through implementation
of policies, programs and projects. The private sectors and Non-Governmental
Organisations (NGOs) have also implemented various interventions aimed at
empowering and supporting women farmers. Interventions like promoting
women and girls education; promoting income-generating activities among
women; promoting use of labor and time saving technologies; promoting the
growing of high-value agricultural crops; promoting value addition to
agricultural products among others. The government through the Ministry of
Agriculture and Food Security in the Department of Agricultural Extension
Services promotes gender mainstreaming across all the agricultural
development programs to enhance women farmer’s contribution to the
economic importance of agriculture in the country. The government
incorporates gender issues at policy level by formulating and implementing
policies that are sensitive to gender issues. In most of the policy documents
that are adopted and implemented by the government, for example the Malawi
Growth and Development Strategy (MGDS), the Millennium Development
5

22. Goals (MDG) of the United Nations, there is a provision to address gender
issues.
Similarly, along with the gender approaches to development, there has
been a shift in the approaches to development in the agriculture sector. The
government, through the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security has also
adopted these approaches. The current empowerment approach Gender and
Development (GAD) (Moser, 1993) is more concerned about gender and
gender relations in the agricultural sector looking at how gender relations
affects planning and implementation of agricultural development
programmes. It emphasizes the inclusion of men and other gender categories
in the planning and implementation of agricultural programmes since all have
an impact on the gender relations that exist in the household. This is done
with the aim of improving women’s access to benefits that are realized from
agriculture.
1.2. Research Objectives
Considering the importance of agriculture sector and the crucial roles of
women farmers in Malawian agriculture, it is fundamental to attach the
importance of women farmers to the growth of the sector, improvement of
people’s livelihoods and economic growth of the country. However, the
challenges that women farmers face limit their potential to contribute
effectively towards the sector. Despite the challenges women face and the
existing gender inequalities in the agriculture sector, women farmers remain
the important players in the sector.
Studies on women farmers in Malawi have focused much on gender
roles in the agriculture sector (Engberg, Sabry and Beckerson, 1988; (GOM)/
UNICEF, 1987). Gender division of labour and challenges that women
farmers face (Tiessen, 2008; World Bank, 1991; Segal, 1986; Kenedy and
Peters, 1992; Doss, 2001; Due, Magayane and Temu, 1997 and Mkandawire,
1989). However, there is no information regarding studies on competitiveness
6

23. analyses on women farmers in Malawi. Therefore, the aim of this study is to
conduct competitive analyses on Malawian women farmers’ empowerment by
determining the importance of different competitive factors in empowering
women farmers. The study also seeks to evaluate the importance of different
alternatives to empower and support women farmers.
The main objective of this study was to determine women farmer’s
empowerment in Malawi through analysis of their competitiveness in the
agriculture sector. The specific objectives of this research were:
1. To identify and analyse the importance of competitiveness elements that
enhance the competitive advantage of Malawian women farmers.
2. To evaluate important alternatives and strategies for empowering women
farmers in Malawian agricultural sector.
3. To come up with recommendations for empowering and supporting
women farmers so that they can achieve competitive advantage.
7

24. 8

25. 2. Literature Review
This chapter aims to review literature on women empowerment and
competitiveness. Emphasis is put on general understanding and review of
studies on the terms. There are four sections in this chapter. The first section
presents the general understanding of women empowerment and a review of
literature. The second section describes competitiveness in terms of
definitions as presented in literature. The third section is a review of studies
on competitiveness. Lastly, this chapter presents methods for measuring
competitiveness.
2.1. Women Empowerment
Women empowerment is a process whereby women become able to
organize themselves to increase their own self-reliance, to assert their
independent right to make choices and to control resources that will assist in
challenging and eliminating their own subordination (Keller and Mbwewe,
1991). Empowerment of different groups of women has been the subject of
many studies. Since the mid 1980s, the term has been particularly attractive to
third world feminist scholars and practitioners. For example, (Afshar, 1998),
who were concerned with integrating poor women in development projects in
such a way that this would bring greater self-reliance, and enable them to
challenge their highly disadvantaged positions in the society and family,
gaining control over lives. The World Food Summit Plan of Action (1996)
recognizes the importance of the empowerment of women to the achievement
of food security and the need to remove the constraints hindering them.
Commitment one of the World Food Summit Plan of Action reads:
“We will ensure an enabling political, social, and economic environment
designed to create the best conditions for the eradication of poverty and for
durable peace, based on full and equal participation of women and men,
which is most conducive to achieving sustainable food security for all.”
9

26. In her analysis of gender planning, Moser (1993) identified five
different approaches to policymaking vis-à-vis women. These were welfare,
equity, antipoverty, efficiency and empowerment approaches. The welfare
approach was the most dominant during the 1950s and 1960s. It places
emphasis on women’s roles as caregivers and sees them as passive
beneficiaries of development. The main method of implementation was
through “top-down” handouts of free goods and services or through training
in those skills deemed appropriate for non-working homemakers and mothers.
In other words, this approach does not challenge women’s traditional roles as
wives and mothers responsible for the welfare of the family. In turn, the
equity, antipoverty and efficiency approaches were developed in the mid
1970s and onwards. While the first focused on women’s need to gain equity
with men in the development process by means of top-down legislation and
other measures, the antipoverty and efficiency approaches aimed at ensuring
that poor women increase their “productivity” and participation in the
economy.
All four approaches were based on Women in Development (WID)
premises that women have been “marginalized” and need to be “integrated” in
to development. From this perspective, women were considered a valuable
“resource” of development and are entirely in terms of their delivery capacity
and ability to extend their working day, rather than as development agents
capable of bringing about social change. All four approaches fail to recognize
the complex interaction between women’s role as producers, reproducers and
community organizers and ignore the fact that women are already
participating in the productive sector in considerable numbers. By contrast,
the empowerment approach derives from Gender and Development (GAD)
ideas. Rathgeber (quoted in Braidotti, 1994) summarized this position as
follows:
10

27. “The gender and development trend analyze the nature of women’s
contribution inside and outside the household. It sees women as agents of
change rather than as passive recipients of development assistance. It also
questions the underlying assumptions of current social, economic and
political structures and leads not only to the design of interventions and
affirmative action strategies which will ensure that women are better
integrated in to on-going development efforts but also to a fundamental
reexamination of social structures and institutions.”
Thus, the empowerment approach places considerable attention on
women’s triple roles as producers, reproducers and community organizers,
and stresses the importance of bottom-up mobilization as a means to confront
oppression. Although empowerment approach is the most desirable in terms
of equality, it is by no means the most widely practiced.
Concern over women’s subordination in law is not new. Beginning
from the nineteenth century and to the twentieth century, the world has
witnessed innumerable women’s movements seeking to pressure governments
and societies to recognize not only women’s civil rights but also that woman
should enjoy equal working conditions and wages. However, it was not until
feminist movements gained recognition in the seventies and the United
Nations women’s decade achieved significant advances, that it became
possible to conduct a series of studies on rural women. These studies show
clearly and conclusively that women’s contribution to the development
process is much greater than previously assumed, and that women suffer from
problems stemming from traditional gender-based division of labor, which
sees them exclusively taken up with their reproductive role as mothers and
homemakers.
Boserup’s book, Women’s Role in Economic Development (1970) was
critical for the emergence of women as a consistency of development
(Kabeer, 1995). The declaration of the first development decade (1961-70)
11

28. did not refer to women, but the international development strategy for the
second decade (1970s) encouraged “the full integration of women in the total
development effort.” Empowering women for development should have high
returns in terms of increased output, greater equity and social progress
(Kabeer, 1995). Policies to improve women’s employment and educational
opportunities, political participation and physical and mental well-being have
been given high international profile since 1975.
The “status of women” as well as the factors that confer the status
varies considerably across regions. A woman’s status is often described in
terms of her income, employment, education, health, and fertility as well as
the roles she plays within a family, the community and society. It also
involves society’s perception of these roles and the value it places them. The
status of women implies a comparison with the status of men and is therefore
a significant reflection of the level of social justice in the society (UNDP,
1995). Women’s low status and lack of decision-making power are some of
the reasons why sub-Saharan African countries have the highest rates if
illiteracy among women. As female children of illiterate women are unlikely
to have basic primary school education, the impact of poor education is
passed on to the daughter generations. Thus, there is a big challenge to break
the vicious cycle of poor education and poverty by gender-oriented literacy
campaign (Kabira, Gachukia and Matiiangi, 1997).
The improvement of women’s education opportunities can empower
them and bring positive impact on the achievement of food security. There is
a gap between women and men literacy rate (FAO, 2011). Improving
women’s education can improve their abilities and thus can play a vital role in
the development program. The 1996 World Food Summit acknowledged both
women’s fundamental contributions to food security and the importance of
enabling women to have equal access to educational opportunities. It is
insufficient to increase women’s education opportunities, however, without at
the same time ensuring that women can benefit equally from these
12

29. opportunities. Educational opportunities and empowerment of women go
hand in hand, education contributes to the empowerment of women and the
empowerment of women makes it possible for women to benefit from
educational opportunities.
Human capital is a major factor in determining opportunities available
to individuals in society and is closely linked to the productive capacity of
households and their economic and social well-being. The level of human
capital available in a household (usually measured as the education of the
household head or average age of working-age adults in the household) is
strongly correlated with measures such as agricultural productivity, household
income, and nutritional outcomes – all of which ultimately affect household
welfare and economic growth at national level (World Bank, 2007a). The
education gender gap in levels of enrollment and attainment remains wide in
Southern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, however, progress has been made to
narrow this gap. A survey by the Agricultural Science and Technology
Indicators (ASTI) and the African Women in Agricultural Research and
Development (AWARD) in 2008 in 15 sub-Saharan African countries found
out that the pool of female professional staff increased by 50 percent between
2000/01 and 2007/08. The survey also found out that the share of women in
total professional staff increased from 18 – 24 percent over the period
(Beintema, 2006; Beintema and Di Marcantonio, 2009).
Provision of agricultural extension services to women farmers helps to
empower them with technical knowledge required for their enterprises.
Extension services encompass the wide range of services provided by experts
in the areas of agriculture, agribusiness, health and others and are designed to
improve productivity and the overall well-being of the rural populations. The
provision of agricultural extension services can lead to significant yield
increases, yet extension provision in developing countries remains low for
both men and women, and women tend to make less use of extension services
(Meinzen-Dick et al., 2010). According to a 1988-89 FAO survey of
13

30. extension organizations covering 97 countries with sex-disaggregated data,
only 5 percent of all extension resources were directed towards women.
Moreover, only 15 percent of the extension personnel were female (FAO,
1993). Extension service agents tend to approach male farmers more often
than female because of the general misconception that women do not farm
and that extension advice will eventually trickle down from the male
household head to all other household members. Women farmers are less
likely to access resources and may therefore be bypassed by extension service
providers (Meinzen-Dick et al., 2010). Time constraints and cultural
reservations may also hinder women from participating in extension activities
(Meinzen-Dick et al., 2010). In response, several new and participatory
extension approaches have been developed and tested in an effort to move
away from the top-down model of extension service delivery to more farmer-
driven services. These approaches can target women effectively and increase
their participation and uptake of innovations (Davis et al., 2009)
Financial services such as savings, credit and insurance provide
opportunities for improving agricultural output, food security and economic
vitality at the household, community and national levels. A report by FAO
indicated that improving women’s direct access to financial resources is one
way of empowering women economically and it leads to higher investments
in human capital in the form of children’s health, nutrition and education
(FAO, 2011). Evidence shows that credit markets are not gender-neutral.
Legal barriers and cultural norms sometimes bar women from holding bank
accounts or entering into financial contracts in their own right. Women
generally have less control over the type of fixed assets that are usually
necessary as collateral for loans. Institutional discrimination by private and
public lending institutions often either ration women out of the market or
grant women loans that are smaller than those granted to men for similar
activities (Fletschner, 2009 and World Bank, FAO and IFAD, 2009). In
Nigeria for example, 14 percent of males compared to only 5 percent of
females obtained formal credit while in Kenya the percentages were 14
14

31. percent males and 4 percent females respectively (Saito, Mekonnen and
Spurling, 1994).
2.2. Competitiveness
It is important to be clear about what exactly the term
“competitiveness" means as there is much debate on this subject. Banse et al.
(1999) pointed out that “no single measure or definition of competitiveness
has gained the universal acceptance of either economists or management
theorists.” There has been a profusion of definitions applied to different
organizational and spatial entities like firms, sectors, industries, regions, and
states, and to proxies such as the balance of payments, market shares, costs,
and job creation. Most authors use the term to refer to an advantage of firms
or industries vis-à-vis their competitors in domestic or international markets.
Some authors have extended the meaning to entire economies (World
Economic Forum, 1995; Markusen, 1992 and Porter, 1990). Competitiveness
is equivalent to strong performance of economies relative to other countries,
where strong performance can mean economic growth, success in exports and
increased wellbeing. It is clear that economy-wide conditions such as
generally high levels of education, productivity, natural resource endowment
and business-friendly economic policies, can have significant impacts on the
competitiveness of specific firms and industries (Cockburn et al., 1998). The
definition of competitiveness in a more general outlook is referred to as the
ability of providing products and services with a satisfactory profit in an
international competitive environment (Reve and Mathiensen, 1994). This
study focuses on this definition to evaluate the competitiveness of women
farmers in Malawi.
Scientific discussion and efforts for giving an initial definition for
“competitiveness” flourished in the 1980s in many countries. This discussion
was a result of the booming technological evolution, the rapid globalization of
markets and trading and the total economical activity. Since 1990s and the
early 21st century the constitutional nature of competition radically
15

32. transformed (Tapscott, 2001), thus demanding new fundamental principles on
the scientific research of the term.
In academic studies, economic competitiveness has been defined in
several ways. The most systematic work in this connection has been done by
Trabold, who distinguishes between four important aspects of
competitiveness (Trabold, 1995).
1. Ability to sell (export ability)
2. Ability to attract foreign investment and labour force (location)
3. Ability to adjust to changing environmental conditions
4. Ability to earn (to cover the current expenses and investment needs
with income and to show profit).
Considering competitiveness specifically for agricultural sector, various
approaches have been applied following a number of different methodologies
for quantitative considerations. Gorton et al. (2001) estimated Poland’s
agricultural competitiveness based on the Domestic Resource Cost Model
(DRC) (Pearson and Meyer, 1974). This model measures domestic production
effectiveness in agricultural sector in terms of international prices. Gorton et
al. (2006) also followed this method for estimating Hungary’s agricultural
sector competitiveness. Lee et al. (2003) also used the same method but in
combination with Net Private Profitability (NPP) method in order to estimate
aquaculture sector competitiveness between Taiwan, Japan and China. Banse
et al. (1999) computed the DRC ratios for various crops (wheat, barley,
maize, rapeseed and sunflower) and livestock (beef, pork and milk) sectors in
Hungary during 1990-96. Gorton, Davidova, and Ratinger (2000) again
calculated the DRC for the main Bulgarian and Czech agricultural
commodities during 1994-96 and adjusted it using EU15 output and input
prices, in order to assess the commodities competitiveness with regard to the
world and to the EU15. Also using the DRC ratio and farm-level data,
16

33. (Gorton et al., 2001) investigated how competitive Polish agriculture was
between 1996 and 1998.
Ahearn, Culver, and Schoney (1990) compared the competitiveness of
wheat production in the United States and Canada by calculating costs of
production in 1986-87. In the same way, (Bureau and Butault, 1992)
calculated the costs of production for the EU countries in 1984 to assess their
competitiveness in the soft wheat, sugar beet, hog and milk sectors. Again,
Bureau, Butault, and Hoque (1992) investigated the competitiveness in wheat
production of EU countries and the United States in 1984-86, by calculating
costs of production as an average over the period. Similarly, (Thorne, 2005)
measured the competitiveness of cereal production in Denmark, Germany,
France, Ireland, Italy and the United Kingdom during 1996-2000 by
calculating various cost indicators: total costs as a percentage of the value of
total output (including area payments); margin over costs per 100 kilograms
of output volume; and margin over costs per hectare of cereal production.
In order to assess the competitiveness of Canada’s agri-food industry in
1986, (van Duren et al., 1991) used three profit measures. He calculated the
profits by the ratio of value added to sales; value added to workers; or value
added to plants. These three indicators were then aggregated to compare the
competitiveness of Canada, the EU and the United States, according to their
ranking with each indicator. Viaene and Gellynck (1998) also evaluated the
competitiveness of the pig meat processing sector in Belgium during 1987-93
by looking at several profitability measures: the net sales margin (i.e. the net
profit relative to the level of sales); the business assets turnover (i.e. sales
divided by business assets); the ratio of net profits on own funds; and the
financial leverage. To evaluate the competitiveness of the Czech dairy
industry, (Bavorova, 2003) computed a yearly profitability measure as a
percentage of total profit in total costs.
17

34. Alvarano, Morina and Bol (2008) conducted another research to
investigate the communities that border the Parismina River of Costa Rica.
The main purpose of this study was to identify the structural weaknesses that
are present in enterprises of the region and the impact of these weaknesses on
the competitiveness factors identified by Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development (OECD). The results indicated that factors
such as the organizational structure and the development of linkages across
the value chain severely affected business competitiveness in the region. In
addition, the ability to make decisions strengthened negotiation and marketing
position.
Mulder et al. (2004) investigated the competitiveness of agriculture and
the agro-food sector in the Mercosur countries and in the EU during 1991-99.
They calculated Real Exchange Rate (RER) and Relative Real Exchange
Rates (RRER). They showed that Mercosur countries (with the exception of
Paraguay for which it was stable) experienced until 1998 a decrease in
competitiveness (i.e. an increase in the exchange rate). In 1999, the
devaluation of the Brazilian currency increased competitiveness. Regarding
the EU countries, despite a convergence within the Euro countries since 1997,
figures revealed a group of countries with low competitiveness: Ireland, Italy,
Portugal and Spain.
Applying Balassa and Vollrath indices, competitiveness can be
measured. Several studies have applied these indices and have been widely
accepted. For instance, the competitiveness of Hungarian agro-food products
vis-à-vis the European Union (EU) was measured using these indices (the
original Balassa index, relative trade advantage, relative export advantage,
and natural logarithm of the relative export advantage) in the period 1992 to
1998 (Fertő and Hubbard, 2003).
Banterle and Carraresi (2007) assessed the competitiveness of the
prepared swine meat sector in the EU during 2000-03. Calculation of the
18

35. Export Market Size (EMS) revealed that during 2000-03, Italy had the highest
export share of the sector followed by Germany. As for comparative
advantage measures, Denmark had the highest Revealed Comparative
Advantage (RCA) score, followed by Italy, while low Revealed Import
Advantage (RMA) scores were found in Finland, Italy and Spain. Wijnands et
al. (2008) also assessed the competitiveness of the EU15 food industry vis-à-
vis Australia, Brazil, Canada, and the United States for the period 1996-2004.
Using trade data for individual countries, the authors calculated the growth of
RCA and the growth of EMS in the world market for the EU15 and the other
four countries. They found that the EU15 had very low competitiveness
compared to Brazil in terms of both measures, but higher competitiveness in
terms of share growth in the world market (although lower in terms of RCA
growth).
Concerning the effect of gender, competitiveness has also been studied
to compare the technical efficiency in terms of productivity between male and
female farmers. Quisumbing (1996) explained that, in general, studies
investigating male-female differences in technical efficiency show no
difference. This was also the case for the study by (Chavas, Petrie and Roth,
2005) for Gambian farmers in 1993. In contrast, (Timothy and Adeoti, 2006),
found that for cassava growers in Nigeria in 2004 female farmers showed
superior technical efficiency than male farmers, but lower allocate efficiency.
The authors attributed the differentials to different access to inputs. Mathijs
and Vranken (2001) reported that the share of women in the household had a
positive impact on the technical efficiency of Hungarian crop farms in 1997.
2.3. Methods for Measuring Competitiveness
Researchers study competitiveness either from the perspectives of a
nation or an individual firm. As a result, studies of competitiveness are found
across multiple disciplines including economics performance measurement,
strategic management, operations management as well as policy research.
Over the past decades, the literature on this subject mainly centred on
19

36. questions of measuring competitiveness using various indicators and
identifying sources of competitive advantage or so-called competitiveness
drivers. Attempts to answer these questions have produced extensive research,
especially in the strategic management and operations management fields of
study.
In strategic management, the approach assesses competitiveness
according to financial performance, and identifies competitiveness drivers as
competitive conditions of markets and resources of firms. To explain why
firms achieve different profit rates, the literature provides two important but
contrasting theories: the Industrial Organization (IO) and the Resource-Based
View (RBV) of the firm (Hoskisson et al., 1999). The IO theory explains why
firms operating in some industries are more profitable than others. It asserts
that firm profitability is a function of the industrial environment or market
conditions, since the nature of an industry directs behaviours of firms
(Hoskisson et al., 1999).
Resource Based View (RBV) theorists believe the firm’s resources are
the most important factors affecting profitability (Barney, 2001; Wernerfelt,
1984). The term “resources” refers to bundles of tangible and intangible assets
as well as skills, which are valuable, rare, imperfectly imitable and not
substitutable (Barney, Wright, and Ketchen, 2001). According to Barney
(1991), resources refer to “all assets, capabilities, organizational processes,
firm attributes, information, knowledge, etc controlled by a firm, that enable a
firm to develop and implement strategies that improve its efficiency and
effectiveness.” Thus By developing and exploiting firm resources, managers
can change the “rules of the game”– competitive conditions, and establish a
competitive advantage that addresses customer values (Stoelhorst and van
Raaij, 2004).
Market share is an indicator of competitiveness that measures the
percentage of a world commodity market held by an exporter. Shifts in market
20

37. share reflect changing competitiveness across countries. Market share can be
defined as:
MS ia = XS ia / XS aw (1)
where (XS) denotes exports, subscript (a) refers to a commodity, (i) denote
home country and (w) refers to world.
The disadvantage of this measure is that simple comparisons of market share
may not describe an ability to compete because market share may be a result
of export subsidies. An example is Saudi Arabia where large subsidies and
not resource advantage increased its market share in wheat production
(Vollrath, 1989). Swann and Taghavi (1992) pointed out that market shares
alone give no indication of how competitiveness will change with price,
product redesign, change in price or design of substitute, or the exchange rate.
The use of other measures helps to explain more about competitiveness
(Vollrath, 1989).
Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) measures a country’s exports
of a commodity relative to its total exports and to the corresponding export
performance of a set of countries (competitors) (Vargas, 2006). The basic
logic behind RCA is to evaluate comparative advantage on the basis of a
country’s specialization in exports relative to some reference group (Batra and
Khan, 2005). Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) was first formulated
by Balassa (1965) and modified by Vollrath (1991) in order to avoid double
counting between pairs of countries. RCA is sometimes called the Balassa
index. Vollrath’s modified version is called the Relative export advantage
(RXA) measure, as it is based on exports. This calculates the ratio of a
country’s export share of a commodity in the international market to the
country’s export share of all other commodities.Vollrath (1991) on the other
hand, offered mainly three alternative ways of measurement of a country’s
RCA to calculate international competitiveness. These indices offer the
advantage that can be resorted into statistics of agricultural trade. These
21

38. equations measure the competitiveness and the export/import performance
through post-trade data, which allows distinguishing commodities that
possess competitiveness (Ayala-Garay et al., 2009). An index of export share
ratios reflects the extent of trade specialization. Aggregation and policy
effects may distort any measure of revealed comparative advantage (RCA)
and selection of a particular level of aggregation may obscure the pattern of
comparative advantage. Letting (i) denote country and (j) commodity:
RCAj = (Xij / Xiw) / (Xwj / Xw) (2)
where Xij is exports by country i of commodity j, Xiw is total exports of
country I (summed over j), Xwj is the total world trade in commodity j
(summed over i), and XW is total world trade (summed over i and j). This
measure gauges a country’s world export share of a commodity with its total
export share of total world exports. If country i’s share of world exports of
commodity j is greater than that country i’s share of world exports of all
goods, RCA > 1, suggesting a country has revealed a comparative advantage
in the production of that commodity.
Vollrath (1989) used RCA to show that from 1982 to 1986 the US had
a 53% share of world soybean exports compared to an 11% share of all
exports, making the relative export share of the US in soybeans almost 5,
suggesting that US was 5 times better at exporting soybeans than at exporting
all agricultural products. The US, Australia, and Canada showed relative
export advantages for wheat, and Pakistan and Thailand had higher relative
export advantages than the US in rice. Vollrath (1991) offers three alternative
specifications of revealed comparative advantage. The first is Relative Trade
Advantage (RTA), which is the difference between the Balassa relative export
advantage (RXA), and relative import advantage (RMA).
RXA = (Xij/Xit) / (Xnj/Xnt) (3)
where (n) is a set of countries and its counterpart relative import advantage
22

39. RMA = (Mij/Mit) / (Mnj/Mnt) (4)
Where (m) represents imports
RTA = RXA – RMA (5)
Vollrath’s second measure is the logarithm of the relative export advantage
(lnRXA) and his third measure is Revealed Competitiveness (RC).
RC = lnRXA – lnRMA (6)
Domestic Resource Cost (DRC) analysis and, more generally, cost-
benefit analysis constitutes an area of economic literature with many lessons
for the analysis of competitiveness (Balassa and Associates, 1982; and Siggel
and Cockburn, 1995). As its name implies, this predominantly empirical
branch is devoted to measuring the costs and benefits of specific projects and,
more generally, the so-called comparative advantage (essentially
competitiveness measured in the absence of price distortions) of firms and
industries. Costs and benefits are generally measured at social or shadow
prices thus eliminating the effects of price distortions. The domestic resource
costs (DRC) ratio compares the opportunity costs of domestic production with
the value added it generates (Gorton et al., 2001). It was originally proposed
for measuring the gain from expanding profitable projects or the cost of
maintaining unprofitable activities through trade protection (Masters and
Winter- Nelson, 1995). According to Masters and Winter-Nelson (1995)
because the DRC ratio is based on the cost of non-tradable inputs, it
understates the competitiveness of activities that use mainly such domestic
factors in comparison to those that rely more on tradable inputs. To overcome
this shortcoming, Masters and Winter-Nelson (1995) proposed the Social
Cost-Benefit (SCB) ratio. Using the same data as for the DRC ratio but in a
different relationship, the SCB ratio is defined as the ratio of the sum of
domestic (non-tradable) and tradable input cost to the price of the good
considered.
23

40. When it comes to the concept of competitiveness or competitive
advantage, existing work must be introduced from the basis of the theory and
research concerning competitive advantage completed by (Porter, 1990). In
his book of “The Competitive Advantage of Nations,” he addresses the
question “Why do nations succeed in particular industries, and what are the
implications for firms and for the national economies?” Porter stresses the
important role played by a nation’s economic environment, institutions and
policies.”
Porter (1990) was one of the first to underline the importance of firms’
strategy and structure in developing their competitiveness. The author
proposed the so-called “diamond model” according to which nations succeed
in industries for which the national diamond is the most favourable. The four
corners of the diamond are: 1) factor conditions; 2) demand conditions; 3)
presence of related and supporting industries; and 4) firm strategy, structure
and rivalry. In addition to the four factors, there is an interaction of other two
external factors: 5) government role and 6) chance. In this framework,
performance indicators such as cost superiority, profitability, productivity,
and efficiency reveal competitiveness.
Among management theories, Porter’s (1990) framework and the
resource-based view (RBV) have been recognized as the most influential
perspectives to explain competitive advantage and why some firms succeed
where others fail (Powell, 2001). Those scholars who believe that competitive
advantage is associated with firms’ specific resources (Foss, 1997; Wernefelt,
1984) have supported the RBV theory. Supporters of this theory claim that the
management of firms’ specific resources is the main determinant of
differential performances between companies (Barney, 2001). They argue that
those companies capable of developing rare and non-substitutable resources
and capabilities such as technical knowledge, managerial ability, and
organizational capabilities (routines and interactions); will achieve
24

41. competitive advantage over competing firms (Barney, 1991; Wernerfelt,
1984).
SWOT analysis is a planning tool that aims at identifying the strengths
and weaknesses of an organization and the opportunities and threats in the
environment. The SWOT analysis is a qualitative method for the strategic
planning. It is able to help enterprises evaluate their competitiveness
qualitatively and can be used as a foundation for the development of
strategies. The strengths and weaknesses are the internal factors while the
threats and opportunities are the external factors. It is commonly accepted that
the strengths and weaknesses demonstrate the organizations internal
characteristics and are controllable whereas, an organization’s opportunities
and threats are determined by external factors on which it has no direct
control but can react to its own advantage. The method allows organizations
to understand and plan using their strengths to exploit opportunities to
recognize and repair or avoid weaknesses and to defend against or sidestep
any known threats (Weihrich, Cannice, and Koontz, 2008).
Due to its above-mentioned capabilities in strategic management,
SWOT analysis has been widely utilized in various business settings to make
effective decisions. However, it possesses a major drawback; the lack of the
identification of the importance ranking for the SWOT factors/criteria.
Therefore, researchers developed models which incorporate Analytic
Hierarchy Process (AHP) in SWOT and named their approaches ‘‘SWOT-
AHP method (or analysis)’’ which can determine the priorities for the SWOT
factors (Kurttila, et al., 2000).
The method has been used in several cases to evaluate the
competitiveness of different sectors for example, The SWOT analysis was
used to develop the systematic competitiveness of fresh tomato industry of
Zacatecas (Mexico) protected agriculture (Padilla-Bernal, et al., 2010).
Alcantara et al. (2009) used a SWOT method to evaluate the drivers of
25

42. competitiveness by identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the Brazilian
agri-systems to take advantage of possible opportunity of increasing export to
EU in the face of scenarios of trade agreements. Rochman et al. (2011)
examined nanotechnology development strategy to increase competitiveness
of national agro-industries by using quantitative SWOT-AHP analysis.
Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is a multi-objective or multicriteria
measurement that helps to address the complicated decision problem,
identifying decision making factors, measuring the importance of the factors,
and synthesizing all the decision making factors (Saaty, 2008). AHP reflects a
simple fact that the nature of decision-making requires a series of logical
considerations of different factors involved in a certain decision-making
situation. Many times, decision-making factors are difficult to quantify or
prioritise, as they are intangible, subjective, and non-quantifiable. One of the
advantages of AHP is that the method can convert intangible factors into
numerical values, and systematically evaluate weights of selected factors in
pairs through a series of comparisons (Saaty, 2008). Therefore, the
cornerstone of AHP is the logic of pair-wise comparison. The pair-wise
comparisons allow for the production of the relative importance value, which
is called weight, and the importance value is computed using the Eigenvalue
method.
The AHP is an intuitively easy method for formulating and analysing
decisions. The process was developed to solve a specific class of problems
that involve the prioritization of potential alternative solutions. A Consistency
Ratio is calculated to check the consistency of judgments. Inconsistency is
likely to occur when decision-makers make careless errors or exaggerated
judgments during the process of pair-wise comparison. A consistency ratio of
0.1 is considered the acceptable upper limit.
The outcome of the AHP is an optimum choice among alternative
decisions. The model utilizes quantitative as well as qualitative factors in its
26

43. analysis. Tavana (2004) has pointed out that AHP is preferred to multiple
regressions for qualitative criteria because these criteria do not allow for an
easy derivation of measurable attributes, however, operationally, the multiple
attribute utility approach does better than AHP. AHP has several advantages,
including over-specification of judgment, built-in consistency tests, use of
appropriate measurement scales and applicability in elicitation of utility
functions. Due to these advantages, there has been a successful application of
the AHP to a variety of problem areas, including allocation of resources,
conflict resolution, forecasting, input output analysis, planning, choice of
behaviour and sustainable development planning (Quaddus and Siddique,
2001).
AHP has also been used to measure competitiveness in different
studies. For example, AHP was one of the analytical methods used to evaluate
tourism competitiveness on selection of tourism destination. The other
methods include Multiple Criteria Decision Evaluation Model, Data
Envelopment Analysis (DEA), Consumer Demand Model, and Regression
Model (Chang, 1997; Shen and Tsai, 2001; Shen and Hsieh, 2002). Sirikai
(2006) analyzed the competitiveness of automotive components industry in
Thailand by evaluating trade-offs among the varying degrees of importance of
competitiveness indicators and the different effects of competitiveness
drivers. Another study by (Li and Tian, 2012) was conducted using AHP to
evaluate the performance of specialized cooperative organizations of farmers
in Sichuan, China.
27

44. 28

45. 3. Methodology
The primary purpose of this study was to analyse women farmers’
empowerment in Malawi through competitive analyses. To accomplish this
purpose, the research adopted a SWOT analysis to identify women farmers’
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats as well as to formulate
strategies. These were linked to the Porter’s Diamond Model to identify
factors of competitiveness and alternatives for women empowerment. Porter’s
Diamond Model was adopted and modified so that as it is a commonly used
measure of competitiveness, it may also apply to the situation of women
farmers. Then, an Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method was used to
determine the importance of the factors and alternative strategies in
empowering women farmers. The first section of this chapter presents the
research framework where models and methods are identified. The second
section describes the questionnaire design. The sampling method is presented
in the third section. Section 4 presents the description of statistical analysis
for the study.
3.1. The Research Framework
Figure 3.1 illustrate the research framework for this study. It shows the
procedure that was followed to conduct this research to meet the objectives.
29

46. Figure 3.1. Research Framework for Determining the Competitiveness of
Malawian Women Farmers.
30

47. 3.1.1. The SWOT Analysis Application
A SWOT analysis was done to come up with strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats for women farmers in Malawi. In this study, the
SWOT analysis provides a clear picture of the position of Malawian women
farmers in the agriculture sector, which determines their competitiveness. The
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats are explained in details in this
section. Table 3.1 shows the SWOT matrix for women farmers in Malawi.
Strengths
1. Women are equipped with local and indigenous knowledge. Malawian
women are the custodians of local and indigenous knowledge. By
having such knowledge, new technologies would just build on the
existing knowledge. FAO (2005) reported that local knowledge serves
as a critical livelihood asset for poor rural women for securing food,
shelter and medicines.
2. Women are hard working. A survey by FAO in 2010 found out that in
sub-Saharan Africa, women grow as much as 90 percent of the regions
food (FAO, 2010). The working day of women is at least 50 percent
longer than that of men. Many women in developing countries
including Malawi work an average of 12-16 hours in a day (Sinn and
Wahyuni, 1996). Women’s triple roles often translate to working long
hours and this manifests their hardworking spirit as they ensure that
they fulfill all their roles. With proper planning and equity in
distribution of roles this hardworking and long hours working can be
productive without compromising their health.
3. Women farmers have the ability to produce efficiently. Just like male
farmers, women can produce efficiently given the right production
conditions. Substantial and growing evidence demonstrate that women
farmers can produce on par with or better than men can (Quisumbing,
1996). With similar access to resources and inputs as men, women
stand to achieve equal or higher yields than men. If women farmers
31

48. were given the same access to resources (such as finance), women’s
agricultural yields could increase by 20 to 30 percent; national
agricultural production could rise by 2.5 percent to 4 percent; and the
number of malnourished people could be reduced by 12 to 17 percent
(FAO, 2011).
4. Women farmers often diversify their enterprises. In most cases, they are
involved in a number of agricultural enterprises including crops,
livestock, off-farm activities and small and medium enterprises. Their
ability to intercrop the staple food crop with other legumes and
vegetables on the very small piece of land gives them an advantage in
terms of engaging in different economic activities both on and off the
farm. As a result, they are able to cope with changes in the market since
they can supply different products.
5. Women farmers are market sensitive and are aware of the changes
taking place the market hence they are able to respond to these changes
by diversifying their enterprises.
Weaknesses
1. Time constraints - Women perform multiple roles as agricultural
producers, workers, mothers, and caregivers (Razavi and Miller, 1998).
Women face far greater time constraints than men. They may spend
less time on farm work but work longer total hours on productive and
household work and paid and unpaid work, due to gender-based
division of labour in childcare and household responsibilities.
2. Small land holding sizes - In most parts of sub-Saharan Africa
including Malawi where customary property regimes prevail,
community leaders tend to favor males over females in the allocation of
land, both in terms of quantity and quality. Malawi is a densely
populated country with an average land holding size of less than a
hectare. However, men continue to dominate over them in terms of land
32

49. holding. Small land holding sizes is common in Malawi especially
among women (FAO, 2010).
3. Poor access to markets - One of the major challenges that farmers in
Malawi face is poor access to markets for their agricultural produce. Due
to poor market infrastructure farmers tend to travel long distances to urban
areas in search for viable markets. Due to lower economic status than men,
women tend to face challenges to travel to such markets. Furthermore,
traveling to such distant markets compromises their reproductive roles.
This trend results into women being forced to use local markets trading
with intermediate buyers who reap them off by buying at poor prices. The
situation for Malawian women farmers is even worse considering the
disproportionate obstacles in accessing and competing in markets. These
include women’s relative lack of mobility, capacity and technical skills in
relation to men (World Bank, FAO and IFAD, 2009).
4. Illiteracy levels among women in Malawi are over 60 percent (GOM,
2010), which poses a challenge for them to ably indulge in market-oriented
farming. Until recently, the boy child was the most favored in terms of
education as the belief was women would rely on their husbands once they
are married. Hence, illiteracy level is higher among women than men. This
trend has had an impact on record keeping and access to information that
is important to agribusiness. Furthermore, high illiteracy levels affect
technology adoption, which impacts heavily on enhancement on
agriculture production (World Bank, 2007).
5. Less access to financial and credit facilities - Women compared to men
have less access to financial and credit facilities in most developing
countries including Malawi (FAO, 2010). Women have less access to
formal financial services because of high transaction costs, limited
education and mobility, social and cultural barriers, the nature of their
businesses, and collateral requirements, such as land title, they can’t meet.
Women’s roles as primary caregivers and health risks associated with
33

50. childbearing also lead to intermittency in employment, which makes them
risky clients for banks.
6. Less access to agricultural extension services - On average, women have
less access to agricultural extension services compared to men. Some of
the reasons for this bias are: women's daily workloads do not usually allow
them to be absent from home for residential training. Second, these
services have been predominantly staffed by and they tended to direct their
services to male farmers or heads of households, excluding female-headed
households and women members of male-headed households (World
Bank, 2000). Women farmers have less contact with extension services
than men do, especially where male-female contact is culturally restricted.
Male agents often provide extension to men farmers on the wrong
assumption that the message will trickle down to women. In fact,
agricultural knowledge is transferred inefficiently or not at all from
husband to wife. In addition, the message tends to ignore the unique
workload, responsibilities, and constraints facing women farmers.
7. Poor access to and control over production resources - Generally,
Malawian women farmers have poor access to and control over production
resources. Women produce most of the food that is consumed locally and
are responsible for household food security in many rural areas. More
equitable access to land, fertilizers, water for irrigation, seeds, technology,
tools, livestock and extension services would make agriculture a more
efficient means of promoting shared economic growth, reducing poverty
and improving food security and rural livelihoods. They often have weak
property and contractual rights to land, water and other natural resources.
Even where legislation is in place, lack of legal knowledge and weak
implementation often limits the ability of women to exercise their rights
(Koopman, 1993).
34

51. Opportunities
1. Existing government support - the government of Malawi makes an
effort to support women farmers through the formulation of policies
under various government policy strategies like the Malawi Growth and
Development Strategy (MGDS), the Millennium Development Goals
(MGD) of the United Nations to address issues of gender. Government
support has been evident through setting a ministry (Ministry of
Gender, Child Development and Community Development)
specifically looking at gender issues. Furthermore, gender focal points
have been put in government institutions besides allocation of funds
meant for reducing gender inequalities. With such support, the
initiatives that aim at ensuring equity and equality can be achieved. The
government also implements projects and programs that are aimed at
empowering and supporting women farmers to enhance their
contribution in the agriculture sector. Some of these programs include:
provision of input subsidies that benefit disadvantaged farmers
including women (for example the Farm Input Subsidy Program
(FISP); provision of micro-loans; linking women farmers to markets
and negotiating product prices with international buyers on behalf of
farmers; investing in education for girls; and protecting women’s
property rights. To ensure incorporation of gender as a crosscutting
issue in all the agricultural development programs, the government
promotes a gender mainstreaming approach.
2. Gender awareness campaigns - Gender issues cut across virtually all
aspects of agriculture. In recent years, greater attention has been
devoted to gender at both national and international levels and since the
recognition of the contribution of women in agriculture, there have
been gender awareness campaigns at both levels. With more donor
support which emphasis upholding of human rights especially those of
35

52. the marginalized, the country embarked on sensitization campaigns
which have opened up people’s minds to ably challenge practices that
abuse women. These campaigns are continuing which simplifies the
efforts in ensuring that women are empowered and participate actively
in decision making
3. Existing support from the private sector and Non-Governmental
Organizations (NGOs) - the private sector and NGOs like World Bank
has institutional policies and commitments to ending discrimination
against women and promoting gender equality in Malawi. Some of the
interventions include investment in women education, provision of
credits, promotion of income generating activities, promoting the use of
labor and time saving technologies, encouraging the growing of high-
value agricultural commodities and promoting value addition to
agricultural products. NGOs continue to play a lead role in ensuring
that women farmers receive training, information, and improved
technologies. Their services often are increasing in scope and scale,
either as complementary support to government efforts or to fill the
gaps created as government expenditures and capabilities decline. An
important emphasis, which recently has been highlighted in NGO
programmes, is their support for membership-based community and
farmer organizations. Women as well as men benefit from the
expanding opportunities to develop farmer-to-farmer extension and
training networks and to form partnerships with agricultural researchers
and development agencies (World Bank, 2007).
4. The government of Malawi enforces laws to protect women’s rights.
The Malawi constitution prohibits any discrimination based on gender,
race or tribe. This is an opportunity for reducing gender inequalities
since it is the only way to challenge patriarchy system. Several reforms
have taken place to ensure that legally women are protected from any
sort of discrimination. For instance, under the land reforms, the
constitution any inheritance of property based on ones gender but all
36

53. children regardless of sex has equal opportunity of inheriting property.
The only challenge is to sensitize communities on their rights and about
the constitution to guide their actions.
Threats
1. Global Climate change is one of the greatest threats to the agricultural
sector in the world today and Malawi has not been spared from the
impacts of climate change. For the past years, there have been
incidences of droughts in the country that have resulted in crop failures.
Although the impacts of climate change are experienced in the whole
agricultural sector, but the impact is great among women farmers due to
other disadvantages in accessing the production resources.
2. In most African countries, gender discrimination exists and it is usually
cultural based. In Malawi, the situation is the same. Social norms
underlie the allocation of land, men’s and women’s labour allocation in
agriculture. This traditional bias against women has led to an
asymmetric distribution of rights, resources and responsibilities (Udry,
1996). In addition, women are considered second citizens in the society
such that they are denied most development privileges. In Malawi a
number of forms of discrimination still persist especially in rural areas
where cultural traditions are still very strong. The government of
Malawi has adopted various international conventions advocating for
an end to discrimination against women but the extent to which these
conventions have been implemented is not known.
3. The agricultural marketing system in Malawi experiences several
failures ranging from poor agricultural prices, inadequate demand for
the agricultural products, overproduction that causes abundant supply
of products and crop failure that reduces the supply of the products. All
these become a threat to farmers’ especially small-scale farmers
including women.
37

54. 4. Human Immuno-deficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency
Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) pandemic is a critical problem for rural
development and for rural women in particular, especially in sub-
Saharan Africa. HIV/AIDS has severe impacts on women and girls
because of gender specific division of family care, labour and resource
control, as well as gender related discrimination. In addition, women
and girls spend so much time taking care for the sick, attending
funerals, which exacerbate their problems of time constraints.
5. Competition from male farmers - Men already have an upper hand over
the women hence cannot effectively compete. In terms of access and
control over productive resources and markets, where women’s issues
are not considered then the competition would be unfair to women.
Where fairness is orchestrated, women can ably compete with male
farmers. Women farmers face a threat of competition from male
farmers who have more resources, are equipped with more technical
knowledge and their scale of production is much higher than that of
female farmers.
3.1.2. Strategy Formulation for Malawian Women Farmers
SWOT matrix presents a mechanism for facilitating the linkage among
strengths and weaknesses (internal factors), and threats and opportunities
(external factors). It also provides a framework for identifying and
formulating strategies. SWOT matrix helps to develop four types of strategies,
namely SO (strengths-opportunities) strategies, WO (weaknesses-
opportunities) strategies, ST (strengths-threats) strategies, and WT
(weaknesses-threats) strategies. SO strategies use internal strengths to take
advantage of external opportunities. WO strategies improve internal
weaknesses by taking advantage of external opportunities. ST strategies use
strengths to avoid or reduce the impact of external threats. WT strategies are
defensive tactics directed at reducing internal weaknesses and avoiding
38

55. environmental threats (Weihrich, 1982). Table 3.2 shows strategies
formulated for Malawian women farmers.
39

56. Table 3.1. SWOT Matrix for Malawian Women Farmers
Internal factors (controllable) External factors
(uncontrollable)
Strengths (S) Opportunities (O)
SO: Well equipped with local and O1: Existing
indigenous knowledge government support
S2: Hard working O2: Existing NGOs and
Favorable private sector support
S3: Ability to produce efficiently
factors
O3: Existing legal
S4: Market Sensitive
framework to protect
S5: Ability to diversify enterprises women’s rights
O4: Existing gender
awareness campaigns
Weaknesses (W) Threats (T)
W1: Time constraints T1: Climate change
W2: Small land holding sizes T2: Gender
discrimination
W3: Poor market access
T3: HIV/AIDS
Unfavorable W4: Poor education
pandemic
factors
W5: Lack of access to credit
T4: Poor agricultural
services
prices
W6: Inadequate access to
T5: Competition from
agricultural extension services
male farmers
W7: Lack of access to and control
40

57. over production resources
Table 3.2. Strategies Formulated for Malawian Women Farmers
Strengths (S) Weaknesses (W)
SO strategies WO strategies
Opportunities • Establishment of financial • Availability of
(O) institutions to provide training and
loans and other financial extension to women
related assistance farmers
ST strategies WT strategies
• Formation of women • Government to help
farmer’s Production transfer women
Threats (T)
Marketing Teams (PMTs) farmers out of
farming
• Establishment of women
farmers associations
3.1.3. Porter’s Diamond Model Application
Porter’s Diamond Model offers an organisational structure for
development linked to a theory of competitive advantage of Malawian women
farmers in the agricultural sector. This study determines whether Porter’s
(1990) theory of competitive advantage and his analysis of global competition
focusing on inter-firm competition is an appropriate model for Malawian
women farmers.
Michael Porter’s Diamond Model (Porter, 1990) is a useful technique
for identifying the factors that an enterprise has to consider in the business
operation and the interactions between these factors with a consideration of
the organisational structure, external competition and strategic decisions. The
diamond model comprises four major factors and two accessorial factors.
41

58. Although the variables function independently, an advantage variable in one
element can provide, or improve, the advantage in another variable. This
model was adopted and modified for this research purpose with a
consideration of unique characteristics of the context in which the model has
been applied. Five factors are incorporated in this study; these and their
corresponding sub-factors are described below:
1. Factor conditions: These are factors of production and inputs required to
compete in the industry. Under this factor/criterion, the following sub
criteria were identified: a) Human resources - this sub criterion looks at the
quantity, skills and cost of personnel for example, extension workers
working with women farmers, and the labour required to become
competitive. b) Natural resources - this sub criterion looks at the
abundance, quality, accessibility and the cost of resources for production
such as land and water. c) Technique and equipment - this factor analyses
the women farmer’s stock of scientific, technical and market knowledge
that can enhance their competitiveness. It also considers the availability,
and access to equipment for production like machinery. d) Financial and
capital resources - this sub criterion looks at the amount and costs of
capital available to finance women farmer’s enterprises. e) Farm location -
the location of the farm has a great impact on the transportation costs and
on the cultural and business interchange of enterprises. f) Marketing
resources - this factor analyses the availability and the quality of important
marketing resources like storage facilities, transportation means.
2. Demand conditions: Demand conditions emphasise the nature of the
consumer demand in the home country in motivating a firm to increase its
competitive position. In this study, the following sub criteria have been
considered: a) Availability of market for the produce by women farmers -
this sub criteria looks at both the domestic and international demand for
the products and services offered by women farmers. The higher the
demand, the more competitive advantage women farmers have. b)
Consumer’s preference to safe produce - this factor considers consumer
42

59. preferences in demanding safe products and services. The stricter the
consumers are in their preference towards safe foods, the more creative
and careful women farmers will be and this will create their
competitiveness. c) Consumer’s preference to value-added produce - this
factor considers consumer preferences in demanding value-added
products. The stricter the consumers are in their preference towards value-
added products, the more innovative and careful women farmers will be
and this will create their competitiveness.
3. Related and supporting industries: The presence or absence in a nation
of supplier industries and related industries, which are globally
competitive. In this study, the following sub criteria were considered under
this criterion: a) Availability and consistency of supply inputs - this factor
analyses the supply chain for important inputs needed by women farmers
like fertilizer, seeds and chemicals. b) Availability of on-job education and
training - the effectiveness of available institutions in providing on-job
education and training to women farmers in their various enterprises. c)
Property rights/legal protection - the effectiveness of legal protection for
women farmers on issues of property rights.
4. Firm strategy, structure and rivalries: The conditions that govern how
companies are created, organised, managed, and as well as determine the
nature of domestic rivalry. This study considers the following: a) too many
farmers - the competition that exists due to the availability of too many
farmers who produce almost homogenous products. The competition
triggers innovation among farmers, which in turn creates competitiveness.
b) Forming business alliances - this can help to reduce the cost of
production for example by buying inputs together in bulk or transporting
produce together. c) Low cost production practices – the use of low cost
production techniques such as physical and biological methods of weeds
and pest control, manure usage instead of fertilizer, which is expensive to
reduce production costs. d) Contract farming - the involvement of women
43

60. farmers in contract farming which can help them secure markets as well as
good prices for their products.
5. Government role: Government policies have a great influence on the
success of an industry. In this study, the following government support
initiatives are considered to enhance the competitiveness of women
farmers: a) Availability of budget to implement policies and programs -
government budget allocation for the implementation of policies and
programs that support women farmers. b) Enforcement of policies and
programs - the effectiveness and the extent to which the government
enforces policies and programs that empowers and supports women
farmers. c) Provision of subsidies and direct payment - the extent to which
the government come in to help women farmers through subsidies (for
inputs and other production resources) or thorough direct payments that
help to finance their enterprises. d) Provision of micro-loans - whether the
government provides micro-loans which benefit women farmers in
financing their enterprises. e) Provision of insurance for protection -
whether the government provides insurance to women farmers for
protection against risks and uncertainties.
In this research, the chance factor was not considered as it has already
been incorporated in other factors. In this study, the framework was used to
come up with the determinants of competitiveness for Malawian women
farmers in the agricultural sector based on the competitive elements
developed by Michael Porter in his book “The Competitive Advantage of
Nations” (Porter, 1990). The modified framework is illustrated in figure 3.2.
44