Gender and farming in Ethiopia: an exploration of discourses and implications for policy and research

Abstract

There is a growing realization that gender matters in African agriculture. However, much of the present scholarly and policy debate concerning gender and farming is rather lacking when it comes to nuanced and contextualized analyses. The positioning of men and women in relation to farming, the spaces they are and are not allowed to occupy, the embodied nature of farming activities, and their implications to gender equality and agricultural policies have not been adequately reflected upon. This paper discusses these issues in the context of small scale plow farming in Ethiopia. We discuss the symbolic construction of ‘the farmer’ as an essentially masculine subject and reflect on the reasons behind its persistence. We argue that the practical importance of the plow and its placement in the exclusive domain of men have resulted in the construction of a particularly male centric notion of who the farmer is and what he does. Although it has for long been argued that men have certain physical advantages that explain this male centric nature of plow farming, we suggest that notions of embodiment have better explanatory power since there appear to be important differences in the way men’s and women’s bodies are perceived in relation to farming implements and activities, on the basis of which narratives of what they can and cannot do are constructed.