Mapping gender networks in Bogor District, West Java: Farmers accessing markets for their agricultural products

Abstract

In Nanggung, West Java Province, Indonesia, agricultural production is dominated by men while women have little access and control over land, capital, and production inputs. Using qualitative methodology including mapping nodes in social networks, this study aims to understand how gendered networks affect women's ability to access markets and capture value for their agricultural products. While men farmers benefit from long established male-dominated information networks, women who are able to access the same networks obtain the same price as men. Women who actively participated in marketing have support from their husband and family in production and marketing of vegetables, are more confident negotiating obstacles, sell directly to consumers and obtain higher prices than from middlemen.