Agricultural Productivity, Diversification and Gender : Background Report to Sri Lanka Poverty Assessment
Identifying opportunities to increase agricultural productivity and incomes is an important priority for rural development. Progress toward poverty reduction continued in recent years, but the contribution of the agriculture sector was weak, mainly...
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| Format: | Report |
| Language: | English |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2021
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/undefined/997271634312803225/Agricultural-Productivity-Diversification-and-Gender-Background-Report-to-Sri-Lanka-Poverty-Assessment http://hdl.handle.net/10986/36536 |
| Summary: | Identifying opportunities to increase
agricultural productivity and incomes is an important
priority for rural development. Progress toward poverty
reduction continued in recent years, but the contribution of
the agriculture sector was weak, mainly because productivity
improvements were relatively limited. Using detailed
individual-level data on agricultural activities, this paper
analyzes agricultural production patterns and associated
productivity of farm households. Particular attention is
paid to (i) diversification toward higher-value,
export-oriented crops as a means to increase productivity
and earnings; and (ii) gender differences in farming
activities and outcomes. The role of structural factors such
as access to land is also considered. There are three key
findings in this paper. First, diversified farmers,
especially those with a crop mix that is focused on export
crops or other high-value crops have higher productivity and
earnings. The productivity of paddy cultivation is
significantly lower than that of other crops, leading to low
earnings. Second, production patterns and productivity
levels differ distinctively between men and women farmers.
Female farmers have higher productivity, as measured by
output value per acre, which is mainly explained by their
smaller plot size and a crop mix that consists of
higher-value crops. However, despite higher productivity,
overall farm incomes are lower among female farmers, mainly
due to lower access to land. Third, once land size and crop
mix are accounted for, unequal access to resources
eventually leads to a male productivity advantage, referred
to as conditional advantage, after differential access to
resources is controlled for via multivariate analysis.
Policies to increase the crop mix toward higher-value,
export-oriented crops and to equalize access to resources,
including land and agricultural inputs, could help improve
productivity and income, and reduce gender disparities. |
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