The Gendered Implications of the Expansion in Commercial Sugarcane Production: A Case Study of Contract Farming in Magobbo, Zambia

This paper presents evidence on the gender differentiated effects in the nucleus-estate outgrower arrangement from a case study of a sugarcane outgrower scheme in the community of Magobbo, Zambia. Specifically, the paper explores women’s participation in the scheme, access to employment, decision-making, control of household income, and access to natural resources. Women are disadvantaged in these areas overall, though there is a key generational difference. As well, both women and men enjoy increased economic stability and improvements in family diets. I find that the outcomes observed are influenced by: 1) the existing inequalities in access to land and discriminatory gender norms; 2) the institutional arrangements of the outgrower model; and 3) the gendered division of labour. These findings contribute a nuanced discussion of the gender differentiated effects of agricultural investments to the literature on women in contract farming and large-scale land acquisitions for agriculture.