Paper short abstract:

This paper is a mixed-methods exploration of the causes of gender gaps in agricultural productivity in eastern and southern Africa.

Paper long abstract:

Rural economies are strongly and pervasively gendered. Women and men farmers do not always face the same production conditions, nor do they always make the same production choices. They consequently do not always have similar levels of agricultural productivity, which can be accentuated by climate crisis. This paper is a mixed-methods exploration of the causes of gender gaps in agricultural productivity in eastern and southern Africa. It begins by presenting quantitative estimates of gender gaps in agricultural productivity, along with estimates of the proximate causes of these gaps, in a region subject to profound climate change. The paper then goes behind the econometrics to present the results of a qualitative investigation into the underlying drivers of these gaps in agricultural productivity in eastern and southern Africa. It is demonstrated that the social norms and values that underpin and sustain gender relations are the principal cause of gender gaps in agricultural productivity in eastern and southern Africa. In particular, women's responsibility to provide unpaid care and domestic work, the economic consequences of gender-based violence, and women's responsibility to provide unpaid contributing farm labour on land that they do not operate for themselves cumulatively create time poverty, which drives gender gaps in agricultural productivity in eastern and southern Africa.