Skip to main content

ETHNOS_APP

Home • Search • Journals • List 0

Rules, Norms, and Resistance

The Limits of Gender Equality in Tanzania's Coffee Sector

Bibliographic Data

ID12116397
AuthorsPilly Silvano (0000-0002-4761-4769, University of Dar es Salaam, corresponding author), Kine Jespersen (0000-0002-4303-6615, Copenhagen Business School), Kristjan Jespersen (Copenhagen Business School (CBS), Copenhagen, Denmark)
Year2025
Pages1-26
Publication date2025-04-10
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueForum for Development Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0803-9410 • E-ISSN: 1891-1765
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/08039410.2025.2488269
OpenAlexW4409327661
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited26

Women are pivotal in the coffee industry but face systemic challenges that hinder their full participation in the value chain. Drawing on institutional work theory and the Women Empowerment Index in Agriculture (WEAI) framework, this study investigates how coffee value chain actors in Tanzania address these challenges and the extent to which their efforts contribute to women’s empowerment. Research was conducted in four key coffee-growing districts: Mbozi, Mbinga, Rombo, and Kyerwa using in-depth interviews, focus group discussions and field observations. Findings reveal that while strategies for education and support for women exist, there is insufficient focus on reconstructing discriminatory rules related to property rights, membership in coffee organizations, and income control. Consequently, women remain marginalized in resources access and economic participation. The study concludes that current efforts are insufficient to dismantle institutional barriers that perpetuate gender inequalities. Collaborative actions from the government and coffee sector actors are essential to challenge these barriers, enhance women’s productivity, and improve household welfare, alongside the need for gender-responsive policies development and enforcement to address inequality in property rights and cooperative memberships

Biology · Gender equality · Political science · Resistance (ecology · Socioeconomics · Sociology · Tanzania · African history and culture studies · Gender Studies · Global trade, sustainability, and social impact · Microfinance and Financial Inclusion · Ecology

  • The transformation of labour skills in industrial upgrading

    Open Access•Xiaomei Fan, Jianwei He•Labor History•2026

  • Resilient labour networks among female coffee pickers in Yunnan

    Jianwei He, Hong Xu•Labor History•2025

  • Institutions and Institutional Work

    T B Lawrence, Roy Suddaby•The SAGE Handbook of Organization…•2006

  • Factors influencing the empowerment of women coffee growers in southern Colombia

    Open Access•Ana Milena Yoshioka Vargas, Jennifer Finke et al.•Cogent Social Sciences•2023

  • Women's input and decision-making in agriculture are associated with diet quality in rural Tanzania

    Open Access•Isabel Madzorera, Lilia Bliznashka et al.•Frontiers in Public Health•2023

  • Supporting women's empowerment by changing intra‐household decision‐making

    Open Access•Els Lecoutere, Lan Chu•Development Policy Review•2024

  • Economic Benefits of Empowering Women in Agriculture

    Open Access•C Leigh Anderson, Travis Reynolds et al.•The Journal of Development Studies•2020

  • Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

    Open Access•Franziska Müller•PERIPHERIE – Politik • Ökonomie •…•2015

  • Empowerment in agricultural value chains

    Open Access•Hazel Malapit, Catherine Ragasa et al.•Journal of Rural Studies•2020

  • Women’s empowerment and gender equity in agriculture

    Open Access•Sonia Akter, Pieter Rutsaert et al.•Food Policy•2017

  • How much of the labor in African agriculture is provided by women

    Open Access•Amparo Palacios-López, Luc Christiaensen et al.•Food Policy•2016

  • What dimensions of women’s empowerment in agriculture matter for nutrition in Ghana

    Open Access•Hazel Malapit, Agnes Quisumbing•Food Policy•2015

  • The Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index

    Open Access•Sabina Alkire, Ruth Meinzen-Dick et al.•World Development•2013

  • Women's Tears or Coffee Blight? Gender Dynamics and Livelihood Strategies in Contexts of Agricultural Transformation in Tanzania

    Open Access•Olivia Howland, Dan Brockington et al.•Agrarian South Journal of…•2020

  • Women's empowerment in rural Honduras and its determinants

    Thomas Dietz, Andrea Estrella Chong et al.•Development in Practice•2018

  • Gender Inequality, Processes of Adaptation, and Female Local Initiatives in Cash Crop Production in Northern Tanzania

    Open Access•Roser Manzanera Ruiz, Roser Manzanera‐ruiz et al.•Rural Sociology•2016

  • Bananas are for Women, Coffee is for Men

    Open Access•B A Williams•African Studies Review•2022

Unique citing works2
Citations per year2
Citation span2025 - 2026 (2)
Citation velocitycurrent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 2

Tools

Open DOI
Ethnos_APP • Open Source Project • MIT License • Frontend v2.0.0 • Privacy and Cookies • API Documentation: api.ethnos.app/docs • API Source Code: GitHub • DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17049435 • Frontend Source Code: GitHub • DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17050053 • cruz.rio.br • Expectantes Misericordiae