Abstract
This study was initiated to contribute to the debate on the relationship between gender and adoption of innovations. It aims, under a participatory varietal selection, to identify the preferences of men and women farmers on maize varieties tolerant to drought in northern Benin. The methodology used is a comparison of two approaches to identify the best varieties according to gender. The first combines criteria weighting and a comparison of varieties. The second is based on the principle of democratic vote. Sixty farmers have participated in this study. The results of this work show two keys points. At the stage of criteria selection, women identified the organoleptic quality as a preferred seed characteristic. By comparing the results of the two methods of choice, it appears that both methods lead to the same results in the case of women’s preferences, while in men groups, the results vary according to the methods. It contributes to the literature by showing how distinctly women can prioritize criteria that are not the top concern of the men and by the way, can contribute to increase the adoption of varieties that contains both preferences of men and women. Key words: Benin, gender, innovation, participatory varieties selection maize.
Highlights
In addressing the issue of adoption of agricultural innovations by women, it is generally admitted that women face more constraints than men
Women in all three sites preferred the organoleptic quality, or the taste and flavor of the maize, while only the men at Kokey mentioned this as a preferred criterion
Women and men chose a similar number of selection criteria
Summary
In addressing the issue of adoption of agricultural innovations by women, it is generally admitted that women face more constraints than men. Sethy et al (2010), in a study of vegetable adoption by women farmers, grouped constraints of adoption of innovations as input constraints, technical constraints, socio-cultural constraints, post-harvest constraints and general constraints. Developing innovations adapted to women's conditions has been proposed to improve innovation adoption among women (Morris and Doss, 1999). In this trend, some authors have come to suggest that innovations can be designated as suitable to men or women (Carr, 2008). Some authors have come to suggest that innovations can be designated as suitable to men or women (Carr, 2008) Resolving this debate is acute in the context of climate change because the role of innovation in coping with the vulnerability of farmers is becoming increasingly important.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
