Issue

Vol. 10 No. 2 (2021): Special Issue on Gender I

How Does Gardening Activities Fit into the Lives And Gendered Responsibilities of Women? The Case of Vegetable Cultivation in Morogoro Municipality

https://doi.org/10.56279/jhss.v10i2.81
Betty David Mntambo
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Open University of Tanzania, Tanzania.

Corresponding Author(s) : Betty David Mntambo

betty.mntambo@yahoo.com

Journal of Humanities & Social Science (JHSS), Vol. 10 No. 2 (2021): Special Issue on Gender I

Abstract

This study explored how gardening activities fit into the lives and gendered
responsibilities of female gardeners. The specific objectives were to understand how a
woman allocates her time to fit into domestic and gardening activities; how domestic
work affect the participation of women in gardening activities; as well as the implications
of the struggle to balance domestic and gardening activities. The study was conducted
among female gardeners who cultivate and sell leafy vegetables in Morogoro Municipality.
The study adopted a descriptive qualitative approach, whereby snowball sampling was
used to select 17 female gardeners cultivating in open spaces. In-depth interviews and life
histories research methods were used to document the experiences and efforts of female
gardeners in balancing gardening and domestic activities. Results showed that despite
female’s financial contribution to the household, gender responsibilities have not
changed; and a woman is expected to do all domestic activities. In this case, a female
gardener must balance between gardening activities and domestic work, whereas
sometimes her participation in gardening is compromised. The extent to which domestic
activities affects gardening activities depends on the age of a female gardener, marital
status, age of her children, and the availability of other female members in a household
who support her. These determine the extent of domestic activities a woman performs as
her duties before going to a garden. The study concludes that participation of women in
gardening activities elevate their economic position, although the struggle to accomplish
the productive and reproductive roles is real: gardening activities are imposing new
routines that intensify their labour. Furthermore, the limited availability of household
assistance and increased work-burden hinder opportunities for women to expand
vegetable cultivation, as well as having adequate time to rest.

Keywords

care, domestic activities, female gardeners, vegetable cultivation
How Does Gardening Activities Fit into the Lives And Gendered Responsibilities of Women? The Case of Vegetable Cultivation in Morogoro Municipality. (2021). Journal of Humanities & Social Science (JHSS), 10(2). https://doi.org/10.56279/jhss.v10i2.81
Download Citation
Endnote/Zotero/Mendeley (RIS)
BibTeX
References
  1. Aelst, K. V. 2016. Gender, Households and Climate Change: Adaptation Decision-making in the
  2. Morogoro Region of Tanzania. Submitted in Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of
  3. Doctor in Development Studies at the University of Antwerp.
  4. Bryman, A. 2012. Social Research Methods. 4th Edition. New York: Oxford University Press Inc.
  5. Chopra, D. & E. Zambelli. 2017. No Time to Rest: Women’s Lived Experiences of Balancing Paid Work and
  6. Unpaid Care Work. Brighton: IDS.
  7. Chopra, D. & C. Sweetman. 2018. Introduction to Gender, Development and Care. Practical Action
  8. Publishing Ltd: Oxfam GB.
  9. Chung, Y. B., S. L. Young & R. B. Kerr. 2019. Rethinking the Value of Unpaid Care Work: Lessons
  10. from Participatory Visual Research in Central Tanzania. Gender, Place & Culture. A Journal of
  11. Feminist Geography, 26(11): 1544–1569 https://doi.org/10.1080/0966369x.2018.1556611.
  12. Dennery, P. R. 1996. Urban Food Producers’ Decision Making: A Case Study of Kibera, City of
  13. Nairobi, Kenya. African Urban Quarterly, 11(2 & 3): 189–200.
  14. Dillip, A., Z.M. Mboma, G. Greer & L.M. Lorenz. 2018. ‘To Be Honest, Women Do Everything’:
  15. Understanding Roles of Men and Women in Net Care and Repair in Southern Tanzania. Malaria
  16. Journal, 17: 459. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12936–018–2608–7.
  17. Esplen, E. 2009. Gender and Care. Gender and Development in BRIEF. BRIDGE Bulletin. Issue 20.
  18. February 2009. Institute of Development Studies.
  19. Esquivel, V. 2018. What Is Transformative Approach to Care & Why Do We Need It? In D. Chopra &
  20. C. Sweetman (eds.) Gender, Development and Care. Rugby, Warwickshire, UK: Practical Action
  21. Publishing Ltd. Oxfam GB.
  22. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 2012. Growing Greener Cities in Africa. First Status Report on
  23. Urban and Peri-Urban Horticulture in Africa. Rome: FAO.
  24. —. 2014. Tanzania Mainland Country Profile: Gender Inequalities in Rural Employment in Tanzania
  25. Mainland: An Overview. Rome.
  26. Flynn, K. C. 2001. Urban Agriculture in Mwanza, Tanzania. Journal of International African Institute,
  27. (4): 666–691.
  28. Foeken, D., M. Sofer & M. Mlozi. 2004. Urban Agriculture in Tanzania: Issues of Sustainability. African
  29. Studies Centre, Research Report 75/2004.
  30. Halloran, A. & J. Magid. 2013. Planning the Unplanned: Incorporating Agriculture as an Urban Land
  31. Use Into the Dar es Salaam Master Plan and Beyond. Environment & Urbanization, 25(2): 541–558.
  32. doi: 10.1177/0956247813500903.
  33. Hovorka, A. J. 2005. The (Re) Production of Gendered Positionality in Botswana’s Commercial Urban
  34. Agriculture Sector. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 95(2): 294–313. doi:
  35. 1111/j.1467–8306.2005.00461.x.
  36. Hovorka, A., H. D. Zeeuw & M. Njenga (eds.). 2009. Women Feeding Cities: Mainstreaming Gender in
  37. Urban Agriculture and Food Security. Bourton on Dunsmore (UK): Practical Action Publishing.
  38. Leavens, M.K. & C.L. Anderson. 2011. Gender and Agriculture in Tanzania. EPAR Brief No.134. Evans
  39. School of Public Affairs, University of Washington. Prepared for the Policy & Statistics Team of
  40. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
  41. Lowassa, A., D. Tadie & A. Fischer. 2012. On the Role of Women in Bush Meat Hunting: Insights
  42. from Tanzania and Ethiopia. Journal of Rural Studies, 28: 622–630.
  43. Malekela, A. A. & A. Nyomora. 2018. Food Security: The Role of Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture.
  44. A Case of Dar es Salaam City, Tanzania. International Journal of Agronomy and Agricultural
  45. Research (IJAAR), 13(2): 50–62.
  46. Mbilinyi, M. J. 1972. The ‘New Woman’ and Traditional Norms in Tanzania. Journal of Modern African
  47. Studies, 10(1): 57–72.
  48. Mmasa, J. J. 2013. Participation of Women in Agriculture in Tanzania: Challenges and Policy
  49. Recommendations. Tanzania Country Level Knowledge Network. Policy Brief No: 8.
  50. Mntambo, B. D. 2012. Women in Urban Agriculture: Are the Policies Supportive? The Case of
  51. Morogoro Municipality, Tanzania. Huria Journal of the Open University of Tanzania, XI: 98–110.
  52. —. 2017. Intra-Household Gender Relations and Urban Agriculture: The Case of Vegetable
  53. Cultivation in Morogoro Municipality, Tanzania. PhD thesis Submitted to the School of
  54. International Development, University of East Anglia, UK.
  55. Mntambo, B. D., A. Z. Mattee & D. G. Mhando. 2010. Accessibility and Utilization of Agricultural
  56. Information Among Women Farmers. The Case of Korogwe District. Tanzania Journal of
  57. Population Studies and Development, 17(1): 64–81.
  58. Mougeot, L. J. A. 2000. Urban Agriculture: Definition, Presence, Potential and Risks. In M. Bakker.,
  59. M. Dubbeling., S. Gundel., U. Sabel-Koschella. & H. De Zeeuw (eds.). Growing Cities, Growing
  60. Food: Urban Agriculture on the Policy Agenda. A Reader on Urban Agriculture. German Foundation
  61. for International Development (DSE), Feldafing, Germany.
  62. Mollel, N. M. & N.A. Mtenga. 2000. Gender Roles in the Household and Farming Systems of
  63. Tchenzema, Morogoro Tanzania. South African Journal of Agricultural Extension, 29: 73–88.
  64. National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). 2014. Tanzania Integrated Labour Force Survey 2014. Dar es
  65. Salaam: NBS.
  66. Noonan, M. 2001. The Impact of Domestic Work on Men’s and Women’s Wages. Journal of Marriage
  67. and Family, 63(4): 1134–1145.
  68. Razavi, S. 2007. The Political and Social Economy of Care in a Development Context: Conceptual
  69. Issues, Research Questions and Policy Options. Gender and Development Programme Paper
  70. Number 3. United Nations Research Institute for Social Development.
  71. Ruben, R., C. Allen, F. Boureima, D.G. Mhando & Y. Dijkxhoorn. 2018. Coffee Value Chain Analysis
  72. in the Soethern Highlands of Tanzania. Report for the European Commission, DG-DEVCO. Value
  73. Chain Analysis for Development Project (VCA4D CTR 2016/375–804): 135p + Annexes.
  74. Schlindwein, I. L., M. Bonatti, N. H. Bundala, K. Naser, K. Lo?hr, H.K. Hoffmann, … & C. Rybak. 2020.
  75. Perceptions of Time-Use in Rural Tanzanian Villages: Working With Gender-Sensitive Tools in
  76. Nutritional Education Meetings. Front. Sustain. Food Syst, 4(7). doi: 10.3389/fsufs.2020.00007.
  77. Schmidt, S. 2012. Getting the Policy Right: Urban Agriculture in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
  78. International Development Planning Review, 34(2): 129–145. doi:10.3828/Idpr.2012.9.
  79. SIDA. 1999. Towards Gender Equality in Tanzania. A Profile on Gender Relations. Prepared By
  80. Bonnie Keller With Demere Kitunga and the Tanzania Gender Networking Programme (TGNP)
  81. February 1999.
  82. Simiyu, R. R. 2012. I Don’t Tell My Husband About Vegetable Sales: Gender Dynamics in Urban
  83. Agriculture in Eldoret, Kenya. African Studies Collection, 46. African Studies Centre.
  84. Simiyu, R. & Foeken, D. 2014. Gendered Divisions of Labour in Urban Crop Cultivation in a Kenyan
  85. Town: Implications for Livelihood Outcomes. A Journal of Feminist Geography, 21(6): 768–784.
  86. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0966369x.2013.810602.
  87. Simiyu, R. R. 2015. I Know How to Handle My Husband: Intra-Household Decision Making and Urban
  88. Food Production in Kenya. Eastern Africa Social Science Research Review, 31(2): 63–81.
  89. Slater, R. J. 2001. Urban Agriculture, Gender and Empowerment: An Alternative View. Development
  90. Southern Africa, 18(5): 635–650.
  91. Tacoli, C. 2012. Urbanization, Gender and Urban Poverty: Paid Work and Unpaid Care Work in the
  92. City. Urbanization and Emerging Population Issues Working Paper 7. The International Institute
  93. for Environment and Development United Nations Population Fund.
  94. United Republic of Tanzania (URT). 2000. Sera ya Maendeleo ya Jinsi na Wanawake. Jamhuri ya
  95. Muungano wa Tanzania. Wizara Ya Maendeleo ya Jamii Wanawake na Watoto, Dar es Salaam.
  96. Tanzania.
  97. —. 2012. Morogoro Municipal Council Socio-Economic Profile 2010. Jointly Prepared By Ministry
  98. of Finance, National Bureau of Statistics and Morogoro Municipal. Tanzania.
  99. —. 2016. Tanzania Demographic and Health Survey and Malaria Indicator Survey. Final Report
  100. –16. TDHS-MIS. Prepared By Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly
  101. and Children, Dar es Salaam ; Ministry of Health Zanzibar; National Bureau of Statistics Dar es
  102. Salaam, Office of Chief Government Statistician Zanzibar, ICF. Rockville, Maryland USA.
  103. Vyas, S., J. Mbwambo & L. Heise. 2015. Women’s Paid Work and Intimate Partner Violence: Insights
  104. from Tanzania. Feminist Economics, 21(1): 35–58.
  105. World Bank. 2007. Gender and Economic Growth in Tanzania: Creating Opportunities for Women.
  106. Ellis, A., Blackden, M., Cutura, J., Macculloch and Seebens, H. The World Bank Washington, DC.
Read More

Author Biography

Betty David Mntambo, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Open University of Tanzania, Tanzania.



How to Cite

How Does Gardening Activities Fit into the Lives And Gendered Responsibilities of Women? The Case of Vegetable Cultivation in Morogoro Municipality. (2021). Journal of Humanities & Social Science (JHSS), 10(2). https://doi.org/10.56279/jhss.v10i2.81
Download

Similar Articles

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.