Mr. Mpiima, an Assistant Lecturer in the School of Women and Gender Studies (SWGS), successfully defended his PhD thesis on October 7, 2019. He commenced his studies in 2016 with the support of the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) in (SWGS). His thesis is titled Gender Relations in the Access to and Use of Mobile Phones and Radios in Agricultural Production in Uganda: A Case of Farmers in Apac District.

The School of Women and Gender Studies, congratulates Dr. David Mpiima Mugambe upon passing his doctoral studies in Gender Studies and wishes him a successful teaching and research career.

We would like to thank the general public for attending the PhD defense in such big numbers.

Dr. Mpiima (2nd R) poses for the camera with his supervisors Dr. Henry Manyire (L), Dr. Margareta Espling (2nd L) and Assoc. Prof. Consolata Kabonesa (R)

ABSTRACT

The study analyzed gender relations in the access to and use of mobile phones and radios in agricultural production. The focus was on farmers belonging to farmer groups that were supported by Kubere Information Centre (KIC) in Apac district in Northern Uganda. The study was guided by four objectives: to assess the decision-making process for male and female farmers to have access to mobile phone and radio; to examine the impact of mobile phones and radios on gender power relations, gender roles and empowerment of male and female farmers. The study adopted the Unified Theory of Access and Use of Technology (UTAUT), bargaining theories and the Sara Longwe Empowerment Framework. Using a sequential mixed methods design, the study employed survey questionnaire, focus group discussions, key informant interviews and case study research methods.

Findings revealed that existing social and economic gender relations as well as technology gender relations embedded in the mobile phones and radios influenced the male and female farmers’ decision-making process for technology access and use. Female and male farmers respectively preferred radio and mobile phone technologies. Mobile phones were technology transfers to individual ownership, which suited men’s public life, while radios were technology transfers to whole households, which suited the domesticated life of women. There were changes in gender roles in crop farming with more joint labour provision and decision-making. However, labour provision in livestock farming was male dominated. The few women who provided labour for livestock farming perceived their participation as a way of challenging the traditional male dominance. Mobile phones and radios positively affected male and female farmers with increased access to information, disposable incomes, improved household welfare and participation in peer-to-peer learning within their community and beyond.

The study concludes that there were gendered technological preferences for male and female farmers informed by the patriarchal social boundaries. Further, the study proved that technology gender relations in form of technology access, control and functionality influence decision-making processes. Farmers’ access to and use of technology aided agricultural information and led to changes in crops grown by men and women, as well as the agricultural production gender roles, except for livestock farming. Study findings showed the instrumentalisation of mobile phones as symbols of masculine authority for rural farmers on one hand, but also underscored the empowering symbiotic relationship between mobile phones and radios in improving men and women’s participation in access to information, household farming and household decision-making. The use of mobile phones and radios in agricultural production resulted into social and economic empowerment within the household and farmer groups, thereby strengthening individual and group voice, agency and control for both male and female farmers.

In order to deal with the fluid gender relations, government and non-governmental organisations must implement a gender and development (GAD) approach instead of the Women in development (WID) approach in deployment of technology and formation of farmer groups. There is also need for agricultural extension practitioners to add gender targeted messages to technology deployment so as to deal with negative gender technology relations.