Browsing by Author "McCabe, J. Terrence"

Now showing 1 - 7 of 7
  • Disequilibrial ecosystems and livelihood diversification among the Maasai of Northern Tanzania: Implications for conservation policy in Eastern Africa
    McCabe, J. Terrence (Oxford, UK: Berghahn Books, 2003)
    This paper looks at the challenges emerging when conservation objectives in the Ngorongoro district of northern Tanzania needs to be coordinated with the goal of creation of sustainable livelihoods by the pastoral people living in that area. The paper first gives brief review of pastoralism as it is seen by most ecologists, conservationists, and development practitioners prior to the 1990s. After then the paper examines the diversification of the livestock-based economy of the pastoral peoples in Ngorongoro district and the challenges caused by these livelihood strategies to conservation policy.
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    Mobile phone use and agricultural productivity among female smallholder farmers in Tanzania
    Quandt, Amy; Salerno, Jonathan D.; Baird, Timothy D.; McCabe, J. Terrence; Xu, Emilie; Herrick, Jeffrey E.; Hartter, Joel (2021)
    Evidence shows that mobile phones can improve agricultural productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa, yet few studies examine gender disparities in mobile phone ownership and use, and how they relate to the gender gap in agricultural productivity. This research gathers survey data on 279 male and female household heads in four villages in Iringa, Tanzania, and investigates the associations between gender, agricultural productivity, and phone ownership and use. Our study finds that many farmers use phones to conduct agricultural activities, with virtually all male respondents using their privately-owned phones compared to only two-thirds of female respondents. Moreover, many women have positive perceptions and trust in the benefits of using phones for agricultural activities. Lastly, phone owners have higher self-reported maize yields compared to non–phone owners. Our results suggest that mobile phones may be a valuable tool in bridging the agricultural gender gap.
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    Mobile phone use is associated with higher smallholder agricultural productivity in Tanzania, East Africa
    Quandt, Amy; Salerno, Jonathan D.; Neff, Jason C.; Baird, Timothy D.; Herrick, Jeffrey E.; McCabe, J. Terrence; Xu, Emilie; Hartter, Joel (PLOS, 2020-08-06)
    Mobile phone use is increasing in Sub-Saharan Africa, spurring a growing focus on mobile phones as tools to increase agricultural yields and incomes on smallholder farms. However, the research to date on this topic is mixed, with studies finding both positive and neutral associations between phones and yields. In this paper we examine perceptions about the impacts of mobile phones on agricultural productivity, and the relationships between mobile phone use and agricultural yield. We do so by fitting multilevel statistical models to data from farmer-phone owners (n = 179) in 4 rural communities in Tanzania, controlling for site and demographic factors. Results show a positive association between mobile phone use for agricultural activities and reported maize yields. Further, many farmers report that mobile phone use increases agricultural profits (67% of respondents) and decreases the costs (50%) and time investments (47%) of farming. Our findings suggest that there are opportunities to target policy interventions at increasing phone use for agricultural activities in ways that facilitate access to timely, actionable information to support farmer decision making.
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    Mobile phones and women's empowerment in Maasai communities: How men shape women's social relations and access to phones
    Summers, Kelly H.; Baird, Timothy D.; Woodhouse, Emily; Christie, Maria Elisa; McCabe, J. Terrence; Terta, Felista; Peter, Naomi (Elsevier, 2020-05-13)
    Mobile phones have been heralded by many as promising new tools to empower women throughout the Global South. However, some have asserted that new information and communication technologies (ICTs) may serve to amplify disparities between more powerful and less powerful people. Few studies have examined which women stand to benefit and under what conditions. This study seeks to better understand the relationships between mobile phones and women’s empowerment by examining diverse women’s experiences within Maasai agro-pastoralist communities in northern Tanzania. Specifically, we ask three guiding questions: (1) How do Maasai women access and use phones? (2) What processes of empowerment do phones support or undermine? and (3) How are these processes embedded in diverse social relations? To address these questions, we use a framework that integrates a Social Relations Approach with a modified version of the Sustainable Livelihoods Approach. Our team conducted semi-structured and individual-stakeholder interviews with Maasai women in June-July, 2018 to learn their perspectives on phones, social-relations and multiple aspects of empowerment. We analyzed the content of these interviews using deductive and inductive qualitative strategies. These efforts yield multiple findings: (1) women’s access to phones is fluid; (2) multiple pathways to empowerment and disempowerment exist; (3) phones reinforce inequalities; (4) women’s identities are intersectional; and (5) women’s networks remain homogenous. Taken together, this approach and these insights provide a more conservative account of the benefits of mobile phones than many studies and also an important technology-empowerment narrative for development scholars and practitioners.
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    Mobile phones and wrong numbers: how Maasai agro-pastoralists form and use accidental social ties in East Africa
    Baird, Timothy D.; McCabe, J. Terrence; Woodhouse, Emily; Rumas, Isaya; Sankeni, Stephen; Saitoti, Gabriel Ole (Resilience Alliance, 2021)
    Mobile phones are recognized as important new tools for rural development in the Global South, but few studies have examined how phones can shape social networks. This study documents a new type of social tie, enabled by mobile phones, that to our knowledge has not previously been discussed in academic literature. In 2018, we discovered that Maasai pastoralists in northern Tanzania create new social ties through wrong numbers, a phenomenon with implications for theory on social networks and path dependency. We used a mixed ethnographic and survey-based design to examine the following: (1) the conditions under which wrong number connections (WNCs) are made; (2) the incidence of these connections in the study area; and (3) the association between WNCs and multiple livelihood strategies. Working in 10 rural communities in Tanzania, we conducted 16 group interviews with men about their phone use and found that WNCs are diverse and can provide households with important information, resources, and opportunities from an expansive geographic area. (Nine separate interviews with groups of women revealed that women do not create WNCs.) Based on early qualitative findings, we designed and conducted a standardized survey with 317 household heads. We found that 46% of respondents have had WNCs. Furthermore, multivariate regression models show a significant association between WNCs and the controversial practice of leasing land in one district. Taken together, our findings show that WNCs can be seen as innovations in social networking that reduce path dependency, increase the range of potential outcomes, and hold important implications for rural livelihoods in East Africa.
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    New pathways for women’s empowerment in pastoralist Maasai households, Tanzania
    Baird, Timothy D.; Woodhouse, Emily; McCabe, J. Terrence; Barnes, Paul; Terta, Felista; Runda, Naomi (Elsevier, 2024-07)
    Despite the extensive scholarship on women's empowerment and gender equality in the Global South, few studies have examined how changing livelihoods create new challenges and opportunities for women seeking access to intra-household decision-making. Here we examine pastoralist Maasai women's access to a range of household-level decisions that span more longstanding and more recent aspects of changing social and economic life. Our team conducted a mixed-methods data collection in 10 Maasai communities in northern Tanzania in 2018 and 2022. We (1) interviewed groups of women and men (n = 18) to identify key types of household decisions and the factors affecting women's access to them; and (2) conducted a survey of married women (n = 321) to identify individuals' perceptions of access to intra-household decision-making and other characteristics. We applied an information theoretic approach to model selection of fitted cumulative link mixed effects models. Our findings show that newer sources of human, social, and physical capital for women, including school-based education, land tenure, and community group membership, are associated with access to more contemporary decision types, including income generation, children's schooling, and children's health care. Alternatively, we find fewer pathways to decision-making for more longstanding decision types, including livestock management and children's marriage. Notably, agricultural land has a complex relationship with decision-making wherein basic access to land is associated with lower access to decision-making, but land tenure is associated with greater access. This study shows how marginalized women can leverage changing social and economic contexts to gain greater access to intra-household decision-making.