This study explores the role of gender-based decision-making in the adoption of improved maize varieties. The primary data were collected in 2018 from 560 farm households in Dawuro Zone, Ethiopia, and were comparatively analyzed across gender categories of households: male decision-making, female decision-making and joint decision-making, using a double-hurdle model. The results show that the intensity of improved maize varieties adopted on plots managed by male, female, and joint decision-making households are significantly different. This effect diminishes in the model when we take other factors into account. Using the gender of the heads of households and agricultural decision-maker, the current study did not find significant evidence of gender difference in the rate and intensity of adoption of improved maize varieties. The intensity of adoption of improved maize varieties is lower for female-headed households where decisions are made jointly by men and women, compared to the male-headed households where decisions are made jointly. As the economic status is a key driver of adoption of improved maize varieties, it is recommended that the policies and programs that aim at developing and disseminating quality maize seeds in southern Ethiopia should emphatically support economically less endowed but more gender egalitarian joint decision-making households, especially female-headed ones.

This study examines the impact of gender differences on maize productivity in Dawuro Zone, southern Ethiopia. Our study addressed the limitations of the previous studies in two ways. First, the study separately assessed gender differences in productivity between de facto female-headed households and de jure female-headed households and revealed that female-headed households are not homogenous. Second, the study separately examined the impacts of the covariates on male-headed households and female-headed households using an exogenous switching treatment effect model. We find the existence of gender differences in maize productivity between male-headed households and female-headed households. The maize productivity of male-headed households was overall 44.3% higher than that of female-headed households. However, if female-headed households received the same return on their resources as male-headed households, their productivity would increase by 42.3%. This suggests agricultural policy should target female-headed households to help reduce the productivity gap between male-headed households and female-headed households. Finally, the distributions of the gender differentials between male-headed households and female-headed households are more pronounced at mid-levels of productivity.

Using primary data collected from 560 farm households in Dawuro zone, southern Ethiopia, this study analyzes the gender gaps in food security among male, female, and joint decision-making farm households. It examines the factors inducing gender gaps among the households of those three categories. The results show that female decision-making households have a lower probability of ensuring food-security and a higher probability of being transitionally and chronically food-insecure. Joint decision-making households showed a higher probability of falling into the chronically food-insecure category. The decomposition results show significant gender gaps between male and female decision-making households in terms of food-secure, transitory food-insecure, and chronically food-insecure categories. Overall, both the endowment and return effects account for the gaps; however, the magnitude of the effect from the return is higher than from the endowment on significant gaps in the food-secure, transitory, and chronically food-insecure categories. Hence, there is a need for policies that not only ensure equal levels of productive resources but also help households build their capacity in order to improve both transitory and chronically food insecure situations.

This study examined the effectiveness of Thailand’s Q-GAP initiative in raising cabbage farmers’ awareness regarding food safety assurance and improving their pesticide use practices by comparing 41 Q-GAP-certified and 90 uncertified farmers in Chiang Mai Province, Thailand. The research methods included a questionnaire survey administered to the participating farmers and laboratory pesticide residue testing of their cabbage produce samples. The research found that certified farmers had a significantly more heedful attitude than uncertified farmers toward the effects of pesticide use on the users, consumers, and the environment. This is supported by the higher level of Q-GAP training experiences. Compared to uncertified farmers, a significantly lower proportion of certified farmers also applied either insecticide, fungicide, or herbicide, with significantly less frequencies when including in the analysis those who did not use the particular pesticide. In the pesticide residue analysis, no significant difference was found between the two types of farms regarding the number of farms detected with maximum residue level exceedance in the sample produce and regarding the results of the aggregate organophosphate pesticide analysis. However, it was found that the produce of the uncertified farmers contained significantly more residue in the aggregate synthetic pyrethroid pesticide analysis as compared to that of the certified farmers. These findings indicate the Q-GAP-certified farmers’ progress in process control from earlier Q-GAP studies on compliance. However, considering the limited achievements of certified farmers in pesticide handling and recordkeeping, and those of the Department of Agriculture officers in auditing, there is a need for more governmental efforts, especially in these areas.

The local implementation of Thailand’s public good agricultural practices (GAP) certification standard was investigated by examining its effectiveness in raising farmers’ awareness, lowering pesticide use, and thus improving food safety and quality assurance. A total of 98 certified and 100 uncertified farms were surveyed in two Thai provinces, Chanthaburi and Nakhon Si Thammarat, respectively. Considering durian (Durio zibethinus Murr.) cultivation, the economic size of farming in the former region is relatively larger and production more market-oriented, while in the latter region, the farming scale is smaller. It was observed that knowledge and understanding of GAP is much higher among the certified as compared to the uncertified farmers, although the effectiveness of GAP in lowering pesticide use remains unconfirmed. The comparison between the two regions also suggests that farmers’ pesticide use could be affected by other contextual factors to a greater extent than the GAP. Results from a multivariate linear regression analysis highlighted the critical importance of training on Q-GAP and pesticide use in reducing pesticide use among certified farmers. This suggests that GAP applicant farmers should be encouraged to participate in training on those subjects as an integral part of their Q-GAP application or renewal procedure.