Women in smallholder pig farming: negotiating inequalities in Uganda’s pig value chains

Publication date: 06-10-2025
Extent: 8 pages

Contributions by: Rosemirta Birungi, Florence Kyazze Birungi, Frank B.Matsiko and Justine Nambi-Kasozi, Makerere University, Uganda; Maria Jones, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA; Woldegebrial Zeweld and Dawit Gebregziabher, Mekelle University, Ethiopia

Chapter synopsis:

Women play a central role in agricultural value chains by doing work and investing resources across value chains from production to consumption of the products. However, as agricultural value chains commercialize or upgrade, women risk being marginalized and eliminated from commercial activities of value chains. This chapter draws on Ugandan research and development programs supported by the International Livestock Research Institute and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign through the Uganda Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services to identify the gendered structure of pig value chains that women smallholders participate in. Findings reveal that inequalities exist in the structure for division of labour, and the benefits that women and men derive from pig value chains. The chapter suggests that supporting women smallholders involved in pig farming requires further understanding of women’s role, the risks they're exposed to, and generating de-risking solutions to promote their work and investments along pig value chains.

DOI: 10.19103/AS.2024.0148.34