Exploring the gender gap in agricultural productivity: Evidence from Sri Lanka

Motivation

Men farmers typically achieve higher productivity than women farmers, a gender gap that reflects women's disadvantages in farming. Sri Lanka seems an exception, because women farmers achieve higher land productivity (gross value of output per hectare) than men farmers. That said, despite women's productivity advantage, men earn higher agricultural incomes.

Purpose

We investigate the factors contributing to the unconditional agricultural productivity advantage of women farmers and the gender gap in agricultural earnings in favour of men in Sri Lanka.

Approach and methods

Using data from the nationally representative 2016 Sri Lanka Household Income and Expenditure Survey, we employ Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition to analyse factors behind the gender disparities in agricultural productivity and earnings.

Findings

The leading factor contributing to higher female land productivity is the smaller plot size cultivated by women, reflecting an inverse relation between cultivated area and yield. The next most important factor is the gendered pattern of crop mix: women tend to cultivate high-value export crops such as tea, while men are more likely to grow paddy — a less productive crop. When plot size and crop mix are controlled, men farmers achieve a conditional productivity advantage over women farmers. For crop earnings, men have both unconditional and conditional advantages, mainly due to their greater access to land and other inputs. While women's small plots have high yields, their size limits women's farm incomes.

Policy implications

Policies to improve women's lagging access to land, inputs and other agricultural resources — often due to inherent gender bias — are needed to close the gender gap in agricultural income. Government policies favouring import-competing commodities such as paddy, mainly through fertilizer subsidies, tend to benefit disproportionately men who are more likely to engage in paddy farming. Reallocating public spending on agriculture could enhance both efficiency and gender equality.