Challenges in accessing coffee pesticide for female household heads in Rwanda
DOWNLOADNovember 1, 2020 - Andrew Gerard, Maria Claudia Lopez, Maria Alejandra Garcia, Alfred R. Bizoza, Bridget Vuguziga
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EmailAndrew Gerard, Maria Claudia Lopez, Maria Alejandra Garcia, Alfred R. Bizoza, Bridget Vuguziga, 2020. Challenges in accessing coffee pesticide for female household heads in Rwanda. Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Food Security Policy Research Brief 121. East Lansing: Michigan State University.
Key Findings
- Previous research found that female household heads in Rwanda were less likely to use distributed coffee pesticide than male household heads.
- This study provides evidence of why such differences in pesticide use might exist.
- Reason 1: Difficulty of spraying pesticide because of heavy sprayers—women in Rwanda generally hire laborers rather than doing their own spraying.
- Reason 2: Challenges in accessing pesticide from distribution centers, including not being told when pesticide is available and being given insufficient amounts of pesticide.
- Additional barriers to pesticide use: cost and difficulty of hiring laborers; concern that pesticide may be dangerous for women to spray.
- Possible approaches to improve access for female household heads: (1) encourage coffee washing stations to spray female household heads’ farms for them (as is done by some cooperatives); (2) study barriers to equitable distribution at the local level.
