Hidden power: gender relations in export-oriented tasks and access to resources for Uganda's horticulture sector
type: CreativeWork
description: The aim of the study is to investigate gender relations in the production and export marketing of horticulture produce in Uganda. The study uses gender as an analytical tool in critiquing the Neoliberal reforms that advocate trade liberalization. This is done through examining the construction and perpetuation of unequal power relations within the tasks as well as access to production and market resources needed for effective participation in export trade. The study fills a gap in knowledge by providing an explanation of the factors that hinder effective participation of female and male tanners and traders. It reveals the failure of the assumptions of price, supply and demand as organizing principles in a market economy as those ignore the practices of politics and gender dynamics that shape the production and distribution of products for export trade. In order to reveal hidden control and influence of decisions, the study investigates the manifestation of power in the marketing channel at three sites: the household site (for production); the collection site (for purchase and assembling); and the exportation site (for export arrangements and air freight). Examples are given through a case study of female and male farmers, collectors and exporters of horticulture produce, in particular hot-pepper and okra, in Uganda. The unequal power relations that are examined, show how women and men create a hierarchical setting within the same site, as well as through the interactions they make by linking to the other sites. While female and male tanners require the tasks and resources provided by the collectors, collectors also need the resources given by exporters. Within such a context, this study, shows how gender analysis can be used to examine the dynamics of the relations between women and men who interact within tasks and resource acquisition between the different sites. The question of power therefore becomes a key concern as some categories of men, and sometimes women w…
abstract: The aim of the study is to investigate gender relations in the production and export marketing of horticulture produce in Uganda. The study uses gender as an analytical tool in critiquing the Neoliberal reforms that advocate trade liberalization. This is done through examining the construction and perpetuation of unequal power relations within the tasks as well as access to production and market resources needed for effective participation in export trade. The study fills a gap in knowledge by providing an explanation of the factors that hinder effective participation of female and male tanners and traders. It reveals the failure of the assumptions of price, supply and demand as organizing principles in a market economy as those ignore the practices of politics and gender dynamics that shape the production and distribution of products for export trade. In order to reveal hidden control and influence of decisions, the study investigates the manifestation of power in the marketing channel at three sites: the household site (for production); the collection site (for purchase and assembling); and the exportation site (for export arrangements and air freight). Examples are given through a case study of female and male farmers, collectors and exporters of horticulture produce, in particular hot-pepper and okra, in Uganda. The unequal power relations that are examined, show how women and men create a hierarchical setting within the same site, as well as through the interactions they make by linking to the other sites. While female and male tanners require the tasks and resources provided by the collectors, collectors also need the resources given by exporters. Within such a context, this study, shows how gender analysis can be used to examine the dynamics of the relations between women and men who interact within tasks and resource acquisition between the different sites. The question of power therefore becomes a key concern as some categories of men, and sometimes women w…
author: Sengendo, May Christine
keywords: gender studies
date published: 2006
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:23:04Z
provider: University of Cape Town
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Gender Studies

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/38571