New seeds, gender norms and labor dynamics in Hoima District, Uganda

Abstract

NERICA, a new group of high-yielding and stress-tolerant upland rice varieties developed by the Africa Rice Center, is changing production strategies of many Ugandan households. This article contributes a better understanding of processes leading to NERICA-related household outcomes in Hoima District, Uganda, by examining patterns of intrahousehold production relations and their consequences for household members’ individual wellbeing. Research presented here provides a timely illustration of the impact that the introduction of NERICA in Hoima District has had on gendered labor dynamics in grower households. Drawing on a combination of quantitative and qualitative data, the analysis is grounded in the local context and the embodied and gendered subjectivities of smallholder women, men and children. Findings reveal that, while households that have adopted NERICA have become better off in economic terms, the extreme labor burden that NERICA demands in bird scaring and weeding affects women and children's wellbeing negatively by exacerbating their time poverty and energy expense. The article makes a case for more comprehensive assessments of agricultural intensification processes that involve diffusion of new production technology, arguing that such assessments should also contain an analysis of gendered labor dynamics within households.