Gender-based determinants of commercial behaviour among primary actors in Pig value chains of Masaka District, Central Uganda

Abstract

Gender integration in value chains has increasingly received attention in commercial-oriented agriculture to enable primary actors especially women improve their livelihoods. Nonetheless, gender inequalities in agricultural value chains persist, mostly occurring in the division of labour, access and control of resources-including income derived from sales, and factors affecting men's and women's participation and benefit from commercial activities. This study examined gender-based determinants of commercial behaviour among primary actors of PVCs, by completing three objectives; explore the gendered structure of pig value chains, determine factors influencing commercial behavioural intention, and examine the mediation effect of gender-based factors on commercial behaviour. Positivist research paradigm, Ontology philosophical perspective, and cross-sectional research design was used for this study. Mixed method involving qualitative and quantitative techniques was used for data collection and analysis. Qualitative technique explored the structure of pig value chains, while quantitative technique studied the determinants of commercial behavioural intention and commercial behaviour. Data was collected on randomly selected primary actors 133 gender-segmented primary actors for qualitative data, and 296 respondents for quantitative data. Content analysis method was used for qualitative analysis while Structural Equation Modeling was used for quantitative analysis. Results revealed existence of gender differences in the structure of pig value chains and mediation effect of gender-based factors. Women’s intention to commercialize was positively influenced by outcome belief-that commercializing is “good” and “beneficial”, and was negatively influenced by intra-household relations with their parents, husbands, and in-laws. Contrarily, men’s intention was positively influenced by economic and social benefits derived especially money, leisure time, and friends. Women intended to downsize pig stock as a commercial pathway to avoid drop-out from pig value chains. Resource capabilities which included knowledge, information, payment for labour, and tradeable assets (including pig stock) were important to avoid women from out of commercial behaviour; while men’s commercial behaviour would mostly be sustained by their access to resource opportunities-in form of acquiring land and fame), and increasing their motivation-by meeting their goals in life, paying school fees, and being happy). These findings need urgent attention! Men being counterparts to women-mostly doing pig marketing and pork consumption retailing work; implied that men’s commercial behaviour needs to be sustained. Women being key labour providers in pig value chains, their drop-out would imply that the pig and pork supplies to markets would greatly reduce; consequently future efforts for commercialization of pig value chains would be futile!