Gaudiose Mujawamariya

Women play a significant role in rice production in sub-Saharan Africa, yet their contributions to pest and disease management remain underexplored. This study examined gender differences in knowledge, perceptions, and management of rice pests and diseases in Uganda. A qualitative study was conducted in seven rice-growing districts, involving 249 farmers (122 women and 127 men) through 28 sex-disaggregated focus group discussions (FGDs) and 49 key informant interviews (KIIs). Image-based identification exercises assessed experiential knowledge. Data were transcribed, coded in Atlas.ti, and thematically analyzed using a gender-relations framework. Women performed most labor-intensive and preventive tasks, including seed selection, weeding, field monitoring, harvesting, and post-harvest handling, while men dominated pesticide-related decisions. Despite limited access to extension services and agro-input suppliers, women demonstrated broader experiential knowledge of pests, symptoms, and seasonal occurrence. However, disease diagnostic precision was limited across genders. Synthetic pesticides dominated management practices, with minimal awareness of integrated and biological alternatives. Women also faced indirect pesticide exposure through contaminated clothing and re-entry into treated fields. These findings reveal a gendered gap between experiential knowledge and decision-making power. Gender-responsive extension, improved diagnostic training, and integrated pest management are essential to strengthen plant health, leverage women’s knowledge networks, and address barriers to information, resources, and decision-making.

Rice is the main staple for more than half of the world’s population. In Ghana, rice is the fastest growing food commodity, and it is consumed by almost every household. However, yields continue to be low, as the pace of adoption of new varieties is low. The low rate of adoption has been attributed to failure of modern breeding to incorporate preferred traits for end users. This study thus employed an innovative set of breeding tools, the G+ tools, in identifying gendered trait preferences to develop a robust product profile through a mixed-method approach. The assertion that “men focus more on production and marketing related traits as women focus on production and cooking qualities” was also ascertained. Descriptive, inferential and content analyses were conducted, and the results indicate ecological differences in varietal choices. Production and marketing traits are jointly preferred by the gender groups. However, women and young women paid attention to post-harvest and cooking quality traits. The gender impact scores generated indicated there are tradeoffs in the traits preferred. These findings highlight the significance of recognizing geographical differences and gender heterogeneity in relation to varietal and trait preferences. In conclusion, the outcomes emphasize the necessity of gender-sensitive breeding work that considers the various needs and trait priorities of targeted men and women rice farmers in breeding decisions for a robust rice product profile.

Purpose: Improving the competitiveness of East Africa's rice industries necessitates increased and viable production of rice of the quality desired by consumers. This paper aims to understand consumer preferences for rice quality attributes in Uganda and Kenya to inform the countries' rice breeding programs and value chain development interventions.Design/methodology/approach: Rice samples are obtained from retail markets in various districts/counties across the two countries. The samples are analyzed in a grain quality laboratory for the rice's physicochemical characteristics and the resulting data are used to non-parametrically estimate hedonic price functions. District/county dummies are included to account for potential heterogeneity in consumer preferences.Findings: Ugandan consumers are willing to pay a price premium for rice with a relatively high proportion of intact grains, but the consumers discount chalkiness. Kenyan consumers discount high amylose content and impurities. There is evidence of heterogeneity in consumer preferences for rice in Mbale, Butaleja and Arua districts of Uganda and in Kericho and Busia counties of Kenya.Originality/value: The study makes a novel contribution to the literature on consumer preferences for rice in East Africa by applying a hedonic pricing model to the data generated from a laboratory analysis of the physicochemical characteristics of rice samples obtained from the market. Rather than base our analysis on consumers' subjective sensory assessment of the quality characteristics of rice, standard laboratory methods are used to generate the data, which enables a more objective assessment of the relationship between market prices and the quantities of attributes present in the rice samples.

This study investigates the household decision-making process toward adopting improved rice varieties. The mixed-method approach is applied to identify the influential factors and demonstrating the importance of considering gender aspects. The study was conducted in Madagascar Highlands (Vakinankaratra and Haute Matsiatra regions) with a sample of 164 male and female farmers. The quantitative models explored gendered differences for adoption, and the qualitative analysis elucidated farmers’ preferences and factors that would limit or motivate adoption. Results show that at the time of the study, most farmers did not grow improved rice variety. No statistically significant gender differences in adoption levels were found; some explaining factors and preferences are gendered, pointing mainly to the labor implications of adoption. The qualitative analysis reveals similarities and sharp differences in preference attributes, abiotic stress resistance being the crucial factor in selecting varieties. Limiting factors include access to fertilizer, seeds, and finance; labor and time significantly constrain women. Technology development should be considered by applying a gender lens. For instance, male and female farmers must be involved in the initial stage of developing and deploying technology to deliver new varieties presenting traits suitable to the farmers’ soil and other environmental conditions and their households’ objectives. Technologies facilitating labor and time can reduce women’s reluctance to adopt new varieties.

Purpose: Improving milling quality is expected to improve the quality of domestic rice and hence the competitiveness of Uganda's rice industry. Therefore, this study aims to assess the determinants of four aspects of milling, namely, choice of milling technology, millers' perceptions of the importance of paddy quality attributes, milling return and milling capacity.Design/methodology/approach: Multinomial logit, semi-nonparametric extended ordered probit, linear regression and additive nonparametric models are applied to cross-sectional data obtained from a sample of 196 rice millers.Findings: Physical, economic, institutional, technological and sociodemographic factors are found to be important determinants of the four aspects of milling. Physical factors include the distance of the mill from major town and availability of storage space at the milling premises, while economic factors include milling charge and backward integration of miller into paddy production. Contracting and use of a single-pass mill are important institutional and technological factors, respectively, and miller's household size, age, gender and education are the key sociodemographic variables.Originality/value: The study's originality lies in its scope, especially in terms of its breadth. Without compromising the needed analytical rigor, it focuses on four aspects of milling that are critical to improving the marketing of Uganda's rice. In doing so, it provides a holistic understanding of this segment of the value chain and offers specific recommendations for improving the marketing of Uganda's rice.