Women's visibility and bargaining power in the common bean value chain in Mozambique.

Abstract

Abstract Women are involved in bean production and marketing, but their contribution is often invisible. This study is interested in understanding gender gaps in bean production, marketing. and decision-making powers over income and sales. A mixed method was used to collect survey data from 332 fanning households and qualitative data from focus group discussions and key informant interviews. The respondents in the study were young men and young women (44%) and adult men and women (56%). From the results, more men and young men own land than women. Common bean had the highest median price per kg (MZN 25) over other crops such as maize (MZN 7), soybean (MZN 10). groundnut (MZN 17) and cowpea (MZN 10). The study revealed gender disparities in the control of bean sales and income. While there were no differences in the volume of bean grain sales between older men and older women, there were significant differences (p < 0.05) between young men and young women. Compared to young women, young men sold twice the bean grain volume and earned nearly twice more income. despite the two groups producing comparable volumes of bean grain. In conclusion, unlike the prevailing consensus that legumes are women's crops. the economic benefits, particularly in common bean, accrue more to young men than to any other category in this study.