LAND OWNERSHIP AND FARM MANAGEMENT IN ECUADOR: PERCEPTIONS OF HUSBANDS AND WIVESJennifer Twyman, University of Florida IAFFE Annual Conferemce. BarcelonaCarmen Diana Deere, University of Florida June 27- 29, 2012

ObjectiveDetermine if female landowners are also the farm managers.

Not typically addressed: assumed that owner/landholder and managers are the same Generally, the household head

Most studies don’t take into account: Land parcels might be jointly owned Farm management might involve more than 1 person Decision-making might vary depending upon the activity

The Problem Lack of individual-level data on

landownership and agricultural decision-making

When carry out gender analysis of productivity (and/or efficiency) based on headship or landholder, don’t really know who is making the decisions

Data: 2010 Ecuador Household Assets Survey (n=2,892; nationally representative)

Interviewed husband & wife together when possible Household registry Assets inventory Household level

characteristics and experiences

Interviewed husband and wife separately Participation in decisions Financial assets Marital & inheritance

regimes—legal knowledge

Household Questionnaire Individual Questionnaire

Data: Form of Ownership 12.4% of households

reported owning land 513 parcels Owned & worked by HH

members Analyzed here:

responses of landowning women who are part of a couple

Form of Ownership % of

parcelsIndividual man 29.0Individual woman

28.1

Couple 34.4Other joint 8.6Total 100.0

Data: Agricultural Decision Questions (last 12 months) Who in the

household made the decision on what to plant?

Who made the decision on what inputs to use?

If some of the harvest was sold, who made the decision on how much to sell?

Who decided how to spend the money generated from the sale?

Research Questions• Does the participation of female landowners vary according

to the farm decision?• Does the form of ownership (individual vs. joint) of land and

other means of production influence whether women participate in decision-making?

• What other factors explain whether or not women landowners participate in decisions regarding their own plots?• Women’s bargaining power (share of couple wealth)• Off-farm employment• Participation in field work

Data: Sample Size & Cultivation Decision

228 parcels Owned by women

and Land worked by

household members

Ind. Owner

Jt. Owner

Total

Alone 47% 12% 18%Joint 26% 66% 60%None 27% 22% 22%Total 100%

(n = 35)

100%(n =

193)

100%(n = 228)

Partnered Women’s Responses

Woman’s Participation in the Cultivation Decision

Data: Input Use Decision

Ind. Owner

Jt. Owner

Total

Alone 45% 18% 23%Joint 25% 54% 48%

None 30% 28% 29%Total 100% 100% 100%

Women’s Participation in Input Use Decision

n = 164

Data: Selling & Spending Decisions

Ind. Owner

Jt. Owner

Total

Alone 59% 8% 15%Joint 22% 67% 61%

None 19% 25% 24%Total 100% 100% 100%

Ind. Owner

Jt. Owner

Total

Alone 67% 16% 23%Joint 26% 78% 71%None 7% 6% 6%Total 100% 100% 100%

Women’s Participation in Selling Decision

Woman’s Participation in Spending Decision

n = 115

Decision-making Index 0 to 1, based on percentage of ag decisions in which

female landowner participates (alone or jointly with her partner) out of total number of decisions taken for that plot

Construct two versions of index: based on wives’ and husbands’ separate reports of women’s participation in the decisions

Paired sample – where have information on decision-making from both husbands and wives on the plots that they own

Distribution of Index Scores, Wives and Husbands’ Responses (Paired sample)

Wives HusbandsNo participation – 0.0 10.6 12.8

0.3 8.4 11.70.5 12.2 13.9

0.75 7.7 9.4Full participation – 1.0 61.1 52.2

Total 100% 100%

Models Dependent var =

index (%) Separate OLS

regressions based on responses of wives & husbands

4 models for each

Key Variables of interest: Form of land &

equipment ownership (individual v. joint)

Wife’s share of couple’s wealth

Off-farm employment Participation in fieldwork

Explanatory Variables

Variable %Joint owner (ind.) 95Consensual union (married)

1

Children under 6 29Rural 86Coast 15

Variable %Indigenous 21Only Wife works off-farm 9Only Husband works off-farm

27

Only Wife does fieldwork 9Only Husband does fieldwork

28

Descriptive Stats—Categorical Variables (Paired sample, n=180); only women’s responses shown

Explanatory VariablesVariable Mean Std.

Dev.Median Range

Size (ha) 7.9 56.1 0.375 0.01 – 710Wife’s share wealth

0.48 0.15 0.5 0.01 – 0.999

Wife’s age 52.7 12.5 53 23 – 82Age Difference 4.4 5.8 3 -7 – 29Wife’s Yrs. Schooling

4.5 3.6 5 0 – 18

Education Difference

1.2 3.4 0 -9 – 12

Descriptive Stats—Continuous Variables (Paired sample)

Results—Fieldwork (Couple sample, Model IV)

Woman’s IndexWife’s

responseHusband’s response

(Husband only)

Coefficient--β

(Std. Error)Coefficient--β(Std. Error)

Wife only0.669***(0.059)

0.656***(0.070)

Both0.501***(0.059)

0.409***0.062

Wives who participate in fieldwork on the parcel are more likely to participate in decision-making than wives who do not do fieldwork.

Results— Ownership of Ag Equipment (Couple sample, Model IV)

Woman’s IndexWife’s

responseHusband’s response

Coefficient--β

(Std. Error)Coefficient--β(Std. Error)

Both own ag equipt(Husband only owns)

0.121***(0.045)

0.113**(0.055)

Women who are joint owners are more likely to participate in agricultural decisions than when only the husband owns the equipment

Results—Wife’s Share of Couple’s Wealth (Couple sample, Model IV)

Woman’s IndexWife’s report

Husband’s report

Coefficient--β

(Std. Error)Coefficient--β(Std. Error)

Wife’s share of couple’s wealth

-0.591*(0.315)

0.187(0.413)

Wife’s share squared

0.472(0.308)

0.069(0.368)

Other significant variables: wife’s reporting Size of parcel (+)** Consensual union (-)*** Children under six (+)**

Other significant variables: husbands’ reporting Schooling difference (husband-wife) (-)* Coast (-)** Neither participating in off-farm

employment (vs. husband only)(-)*

Variables that not significant in either wives’ nor husbands’ regressions Wife being a joint vs. individual

landowner Couple’s wealth Wife’s age, age difference Wife’s schooling Ethnicity Rural

Conclusions Majority of women landowners in Ecuador are farm

managers: participate in the agricultural decisions regarding their own plots

Husbands’ and wives’ perceptions of women’s role in ag decision-making differs

Women’s participation in decision-making highly correlated with their participation in ag fieldwork, alone or with husbands

Participation in decision-making highly associated with women landowners also owning ag equipment jointly with husbands

Conclusions Wife’s share of couple’s wealth negatively

related to her participation in ag decisions (wives’ model) As move towards wealth equality, landowning wives

feel less compelled to be involved in ag decisions Rely on gender division of labor?

Women in livestock production, domestic labor? Use bargaining power in other ways, hh decision-

making

Project website:http://genderassetgap.iimb.ernet.in

Thank You!