Policy Brief Issue 19 TIME AND MONEY: A STUDY OF LABOR CONSTRAINTS FOR FEMALE COTTON PRODUCERS IN CÔTE D’IVOIRE GENDER Authors: Eliana Carranza, Aletheia Donald, Rachel Jones and Léa Rouanet INNOVATION LAB The Gender Innovation KEY MESSAGES Lab (GIL) conducts impact evaluations of development Labor is a key constraint to women’s cotton production interventions in Sub-Saharan and productivity in Côte d’Ivoire. Africa, seeking to generate evidence on how to close Four inter-related drivers of this constraint emerge from our study: the gender gap in earnings, productivity, assets and • Low financial liquidity: women have less access to agency. The GIL team is cash and have more limited access to credit, which currently working on over 50 impact evaluations in 21 prevents them from hiring agricultural labor. countries with the aim of • Little control of household labor: gender norms imply building an evidence base that labor is allocated in priority to agricultural plots managed with lessons for the region. by men. This causes systematic delays for agricultural The impact objective of GIL is tasks performed on female-managed plots. increasing take-up of effective policies by governments, • Lack of flexible working hours: domestic work development organizations and other household duties requiring daily attention and the private sector in order constrain women’s use of labor networks. to address the underlying causes of gender inequality • Lower returns: when hired by women, men don’t work as hard. in Africa, particularly in terms of women’s economic and A gap between male and female farmers in agricultural production, both social empowerment. The lab in terms of output and productivity, has been largely documented across aims to do this by producing Sub-Saharan Africa. The Africa Gender Innovation Lab has produced a and delivering a new body of body of evidence, including the Levelling the Field report and the Cost of evidence and developing a compelling narrative, geared the Gender Gap in Agricultural Productivity report, that identified constraints towards policymakers, on what women farmers face, determined the size and cost of the gap in agricultural works and what does not work productivity, and offered promising policy options and emerging new ideas to in promoting gender equality. http://www.worldbank.org/en/programs/africa-gender-innovation-lab test. One of the key findings from the Levelling the Field cotton parcels and belong to northern Côte d’Ivoire’s report is that labor presents the main barrier to achieving two largest ethnic groups, the Sénoufo and the Malinké. gender equality in productivity. Across the six profiled African countries, we observe a combination of women HERE’S WHAT WE FOUND deploying fewer household male laborers on their plots, male laborers generating lower returns for female FEMALE FARMERS FACE farmers relative to male farmers, and female farmers SUBSTANTIAL LABOR GAPS facing challenges in hiring effective outside labor. In this MALE VS. FEMALE-HEADED HOUSEHOLDS: First, policy brief, we investigate and provide explanations using quantitative data, we do a simple comparison for female farmers’ labor constraints through a mixed- of labor usage in male-headed versus female-headed methods study within the cotton sector of Côte d’Ivoire, households to estimate the gender labor gap. Total labor as part of the Côte d’Ivoire Agriculture Sector Support usage is substantially higher in our four northern regions Project’s efforts to increase female participation in cotton than in Côte d’Ivoire as a whole, as is the gender labor production. We first quantify the gender gap in labor gap: 37%, compared to 27% in the country overall. usage, then look at the drivers of this gap and how they constrain women’s cotton production and productivity, SOURCES OF LABOR: Next, we look at whether the and finally offer recommendations for policymakers. labor reported is provided by the plot owner, household labor, paid labor, or unpaid labor. Most of the unpaid HERE’S WHAT WE DID labor is supplied by reciprocal labor groups, through which producers can exchange labor with fellow farmers. We combine quantitative data from the 2015 Enquête We find that the shortage of labor for female-headed Niveau de Vie des Ménages (ENV), a nationally- households is mostly due to low quantities of paid representative household survey, and qualitative data labor followed by low quantities of unpaid labor. gathered by our research team to offer new insights on the drivers of labor barriers to gender equality in HOUSEHOLDS SIMILAR IN PLOT AND cotton production. We focus our study on four regions HOUSEHOLD SIZE: However, these are just simple in the north of Côte d’Ivoire as they are among the differences that do not account for disparities in country’s largest cotton producers, together accounting plot size or household size for female- versus male- for 40% of the country’s cotton production by small- headed households. When instead we take into holder farmers. We use the quantitative data – spanning account plot and household size, the gender gap 10,000 households, among which 1,500 are located in in access to total labor remains relatively stable in the northern regions – to obtain precise estimates of the the North (36%) but shrinks in the country overall gender gap in access to labor, document which types to 11%. This means that when we compare similar of labor women are most constrained in procuring, and households, we see a 25 percentage point difference examine how large the labor constraint of women is between the North and the rest of the country. compared to other agricultural inputs such as fertilizer. We complement this data with qualitative findings in MALE VS. FEMALE PLOT OWNERS: Looking at order to paint a fuller picture of both the causes and male- vs. female-headed households only gives a partial consequences of women’s labor constraints. Our picture of women’s access to labor, since the majority qualitative research included key informant interviews of women live in male-headed households. In Côte with actors in the cotton value-chain and four focus d’Ivoire overall 28% of women aged 18 or older live in groups with a total of 27 women who cultivate their own female-headed households, while in the North this figure THE GENDER LABOR GAP FOR THE AVERAGE PLOT AND HOUSEHOLD SIZE 25 Male-headed HHs Agricultural Season 20 Female-headed HHs Laborers per 15 10 5 0 Country Overall Northern Region is merely 12%. Perhaps female household heads are a owned plots. Our qualitative research found that particularly disadvantaged group of women, biasing our limited possession of cash is a key driver of this gender gap estimates upwards. However, when we look difference, and that this cash constraint is mainly at male vs. female plot owners instead of household due to female farmers being primarily responsible heads, the gender gap in total quantity of labor is of the for food crops (which do not generate cash) and same magnitude: 34% in the North and 13% in country their having lower access to credit markets. overall. When looking at what sources of labor are more INPUTS: The institutional context of northern Côte difficult for women to access, the top two remain paid d’Ivoire exhibits a high degree of inter-linkage between and unpaid labor, though the relative importance of the agricultural and credit markets. In rural areas with a two changes, with unpaid labor usage being lower. low presence of formal financial institutions, agricultural Our quantitative data also shows that the gender gap in associations fill multiple roles. For example, cash crop access to labor is larger than that for other agricultural associations extend loans to farmers, and then buy produce directly from farmers as reimbursement. For inputs (such as fertilizer and herbicides) in the North, the purposes of paying labor in particular, a farmer’s as opposed to in the rest of the country. Moreover, agricultural productivity in cash crops is used as the gap in access to labor vs. other agricultural inputs a signal of credit-worthiness. In our study region, is particularly stark for female plot managers. cotton companies only offer loans for hiring labor Overall, although the gender gap is statistically to farmers who had high cotton yields: an average significant across specifications and regions, of more than 1.1 tons per hectare per year over the women’s access to labor is lowest in the north of previous years. Female farmers who do not reach the country, particularly for paid and unpaid labor. this threshold are excluded from accessing this form of credit, and can end up being stuck in a low-yield WHAT DRIVES THIS productivity trap, where their low access to inputs GENDER LABOR GAP? prevents them from increasing their productivity, which in turn decreases their access to the financing that WOMEN HAVE LESS CASH would allow them to increase their productivity. Female-owned plots in the northern region get WAGES: Theoretically, female farmers could circumvent allocated 33% less paid labor compared to male- this lack of access to cash by compensating workers GENDER COMPOSITION OF THE LABOR GENDER GAP IN NORTHERN REGIONS 60% Total Labor 50% Male Labor Gender Gap 40% Female Labor 30% 20% 10% 0% Paid Labor Unpaid Labor through in-kind wages. However, these are accepted season will be attended to last in the next cycle. only by food insecure local laborers. This is because However, both in our stakeholder interviews and net of the time, transportation and storage costs focus groups, a key theme was that women’s time the laborer would incur to sell the in-kind good and constraints limit their participation in such groups. obtain cash, in-kind wages are generally lower than Women are responsible for a variety of household the cash wage. Since female farmers’ demand for activities that limit their availability. In particular, women labor is highly sensitive to its cost, the wage premium face demands on their time from husbands to engage required by laborers in order to accept in-kind in agricultural work on the husband’s own plots and payment may increase farmers’ production costs generally cannot predict when their help will be asked to the point where cotton becomes unprofitable. for. In addition, they are required to do household chores Female farmers could also offer to exchange labor and cook meals multiple times a day. Since reciprocal time with the worker, or join the reciprocal labor group members need to be available at specific times groups mentioned above. In practice, this is often when other members require labor, they are often not not possible due to our second constraint: time. able to join these groups. Moreover, even when they are able to join, they can only afford to join groups that THE CASH CONSTRAINT IS EXACERBATED provide lower total labor time, since reciprocal group BY TIME CONSTRAINTS members can only get out the time that they put in. Our qualitative evidence shows that women As shown in the figure above, the gender gap in access are heavily time-constrained, both in the total to labor for women-owned plots is even larger for amount of time they are able to dedicate to unpaid reciprocal group labor (41%) than for paid labor agricultural activities, and particularly in how free (33%, as mentioned above). Moreover, these figures they are to decide how to allocate that time. hide important differences in the gender composition of RECIPROCAL LABOR GROUPS: Due to the labor. Specifically, we find that female plot owners have cash constraints mentioned above, reciprocal significantly less access than male plot owners to male labor groups would be a promising option. These labor (the blue bars) and this is not offset by an increase groups work by members committing to provide in access to female labor. In fact, women-owned plots do labor and tending to each other’s fields in a rotating not use significantly more paid or unpaid female laborers order, meaning that the field that is first toiled in one (if this were the case, the orange bars would be negative). …AND BY GENDER NORMS becoming cotton producers. This is important because PRIORITIZATION OF HIRED LABOR: Women’s the gender labor gaps we currently observe are among cash and time constraints are manifestations of women who already decided they had enough access cultural gender norms surrounding the roles of men to labor to engage in cotton production. Thus, the and women in society. For example, our data shows gender labor gap would be even larger if more women that women bear the brunt of household chores, tried to produce male-dominated crops like cotton. spending an average of 40 hours a week on tasks TIME-SENSITIVE TASKS: Moreover, limited access such as cooking and cleaning versus men’s 9 hours. to labor affects women’s productivity through several These norms also prioritize men’s needs for hired labor, channels that receive limited attention in policy compounding the time and cash-driven gaps. Since discussions. Chief among these is the systematic and the supply of labor is limited in the northern regions, significant delay in completing key tasks within the and demand for labor outstrips supply during crucial agricultural season. As for many crops, cotton yield- periods in the cotton crop cycle, women only have potential declines as planting is delayed beyond the access to labor after men. Our qualitative evidence optimum planting window. Thus, the fact that women indicates that when households make labor sourcing are required to first tend to planting in their husband’s and allocation decisions, priority is given to male- plots and are limited in their capacity to use hired labor owned export crop plots and household food crop as a substitute directly impacts yield. Because women’s plots. Women-owned cash crop plots are last in line. labor groups are limited in terms of the total amount of MALE LABOR: Lastly, some of the female farmers time they can provide, they cannot address this need. interviewed as part of this study indicated that even These delays extend throughout the crop cycle. when they are able to pay for male labor for the more For example, cotton harvesting requires multiple physically demanding tasks such as land clearing, male passes through the field. Due to their limited access laborers generate lower returns for female farmers to labor, women are either not able to harvest all of relative to male farmers. Specifically, they report that the crop, or only get around to it once part of the male laborers are less reliable and hard-working when crop has already been lost or damaged. Moreover, working for women, since women are less likely to be the later cotton is harvested, the harder it becomes strict and fire or re-negotiate contracts with workers to spin: bolls that are harvested late fetch a lower given low performance. This is both because women price (10% less per kg) at the time of selling. have fewer alternative options for replacing the laborers due to the constraints mentioned above, and because ENVIRONMENTAL STRESS: These delays are of norms governing appropriate behavior for women. exacerbated through environmental stress, as the uncertainty of weather and shortening of the LABOR CONSTRAINTS ARE KEY BARRIERS growing season through ever later rainfall not TO WOMEN’S COTTON PRODUCTION AND only negatively impact cotton yields, but also PRODUCTIVITY IN CÔTE D’IVOIRE concentrate laborious tasks into a more limited CROP CHOICE: Limited access to labor both window of time. Importantly, shorter growing drives female farmers’ choice of crop and limits their seasons affect the food crops grown by all of the productivity once they engage in cultivation. Discussions interviewed female cotton farmers, compounding with female farmers in the northern regions confirm the labor intensity of the agricultural season in that existing labor constraints discourage women from general and increasing delays faced by women. IDEAS FOR POLICYMAKING Several key policy considerations emerge based on our analysis, relating to labor financing and gender norms. Adopting solutions to ease female farmers’ labor constraints will not only increase their productivity, but also boost economic growth as an increasing share of the population becomes involved in the cultivation of higher-value crops. LABOR FINANCING GIVE CASH Agricultural programs should ease women’s labor constraints through cash grants or loans to hire paid labor. In the context of existing credit products, cash grants may prove to be sustainable in the long-term if they allow women to escape from the “low- yield productivity trap” and to be eligible for loans in the future. RELEASE LABOR Synergies with other programs increasing the supply of labor THROUGH OTHER should be exploited. For example, programs usually targeted at MEANS male farmers – such as those that intensify mechanization by providing oxen and animal traction kits - may also increase the supply of paid labor available to women. Increasing information about the availability of labor and wage rates and lowering transport costs across villages could also increase labor supply. GET THE TIMING In the absence of such programs, attention should be paid RIGHT to labor dynamics resulting from the provision of loans or grants to female farmers. In contexts where labor is scarce, female farmers’ increased ability to hire labor could result in shortages for male producers, in turn leading them to increase their demands on their wife’s labor and further exacerbate her time constraints. To mitigate this risk, interventions seeking to increase women’s liquidity could coincide with moments in the agricultural cycle in which female producers rely specifically on male wage labor, such as during plowing. GENDER NORMS ENGAGE MEN Husbands can be engaged to assist wives in identifying labor as IN THE FIELD well as negotiating and enforcing contracts with laborers to increase their performance. Joint production of crops could also be a promising avenue for increasing the supply of women’s own labor. FOR MORE INFORMATION, ENGAGE MEN IN In our context, the most binding constraint for women in terms PLEASE CONTACT THE HOME of time was not childcare, but rather inflexible tasks that are scheduled daily, such as cleaning the house and cooking meals Markus Goldstein for the family. Programs to involve men in conducting household mgoldstein@worldbank.org chores could be beneficial for women’s cotton production. Rachel Coleman rcoleman1@worldbank.org This work has also been funded in part by The Umbrella Facility for Gender Equality (UFGE), a World Bank Group multi- 1818 H. St NW donor trust fund expanding evidence, knowledge and data needed to identify and address key gaps between men and women to deliver better development solutions that boost prosperity and increase opportunity for all. The UFGE has Washington, DC 20433 USA received generous contributions from Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and the United States. Cover Photo by Ollivier Girard for Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) The first draft of this policy brief was released in May 2017.