Men's crops and women's crops: The importance of gender to the understanding of agricultural and development outcomes in Ghana's central region

Abstract

This article offers a feminist post-structuralist approach to gender and agriculture in Ghana's central region and bringing both practice and theory to bear in development and research. The author mentions that the mainstream gender approach only focuses on the experience of partial population and treats women as a single category. Therefore, mainstream approach can not identify the situation and needs of significant percentage of population and can actually conceal important variabilities. To collect data for this study, the author uses modified snowball sampling and semi-structured interview of men and women. The result of the study shows that the pattern of gendered crops in central Ghana is highly male dominated and they have different crops for men and women. Men and women experience different vulnerabilities based on their different role in the agriculture. These gendered patters of agriculture give more attention to men's vulnerabilities. It is suggested that further research should focus on the different modes of livelihood within the community and the social groups those are related to these different modes. This recognizes the different vulnerabilities in the community and gender categories in the development planning.