Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jn8rn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T07:04:58.903Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

EMPOWERMENT THROUGH SOCIAL CAPITAL BUILD-UP: GENDER DIMENSIONS IN TECHNOLOGY UPTAKE

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2008

M. C. S. BANTILAN  and
R. PADMAJA
M. C. S. BANTILAN*
Affiliation:
Global Theme on Institutions, Markets, Policy and Impacts, International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Patancheru 502 324 Andhra Pradesh, India
R. PADMAJA
Affiliation:
Global Theme on Institutions, Markets, Policy and Impacts, International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Patancheru 502 324 Andhra Pradesh, India
*
†Corresponding author. E-mail: c.bantilan@cgiar.org
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

This paper explores how and to what extent women and men have benefited from social capital build-up (the ability of men and women farmers to develop and use various kinds of social networks and the resources that thereby become available) in technology uptake, and the role of women in this process. Using a series of three case studies on ICRISAT's Groundnut Production Technology, the process of technology uptake leading to empowerment is systematically documented through three stages of the adoption pathway. The process stimulating gender-equitable change and empowerment was examined through a sequential analysis using two in-depth case studies in three villages in Maharashtra, India, and complemented by a broader quantitative study of the uptake process covering villages in surrounding districts. This analysis illustrated that social capital is important for both adoption and impact to occur. Qualitative information complemented by quantitative measures provides a holistic understanding of the long-term effects and benefits. The findings illustrated that build-up of social capital improves access to resources like credit, information and knowledge about new technology options and practices. Furthermore, it expands choices available to each household member – e.g. selecting and adopting seed technology of their choice, and alternative investment options – and influences the distribution of benefits from the technology because of the ways in which social networks and social relationships facilitate technology dissemination. Mobilizing social capital through participation of men and women in groups/networks that crossed caste, class and gender barriers mediated the successful adoption and diffusion of technology.

Type
Research Article
Information
Experimental Agriculture , Volume 44 , Issue 1 , January 2008 , pp. 61 - 80
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Bantilan, M. C. S., Parthasarathy, D. and Padmaja, R. (2003). Enhancing research-poverty alleviation linkages: Experiences in the semi-arid tropics. In Agricultural Research and Poverty Reduction – Some Issues and Evidences, 173–188. (Eds Mathur, S. and Pachico, D.). Economic and Impact Series 2. Cali, Columbia: International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT).Google Scholar
Bartlett, A. (2005). No more adoption rates! Looking for empowerment in agricultural development programmes. Paper presented at the Impact Assessment Workshop, CIMMYT, Mexico, 19–21 October 2005.Google Scholar
Besley, T. and Case, A. (1993). Modelling technology adoption in developing countries. American Economic Review 83:396–402.Google Scholar
Bourdieu, P. (1986). The forms of capital. In Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education, 241–258 (Ed. Richards, J. G.). New York: Greenwood Press.Google Scholar
Buvinić, M. and Gupta, G.R. (1994). Targeting poor women-headed households and women-maintained families in developing countries. Mimeo, International Centre for Research on Women.Google Scholar
Coleman, J. S. (1988). Social capital in the creation of human capital. American Journal of Sociology 94:S95–S120.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coleman, J. S. (1990). Foundations of Social Theory. Cambridge, USA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Dikito-Wachtmeister, M. S. (2001). Social capital. 2020 Focus 6, Brief 9 of 12. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute.Google Scholar
Douthwaite, B., Kuby, T., van de Fliert, E. and Schulz, S. (2003). Impact pathway evaluation: an approach for achieving and attributing impact in complex systems. Agricultural Systems 78:243–265.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Feder, G. and Slade, R. (1984). The acquisition of information and the adoption of new technology. American Journal of Agricultural Economics 66:312–320.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Feder, G., Just, R. E. and Zilberman, D. (1985). Adoption of agricultural innovations in developing countries: A survey. Economic Development and Cultural Change 33:255–298.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fine, B. (2001). Social Capital versus Social Theory: Political Economy and Social Science at the turn of the Millennium. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Foster, A. D. and Rosenzweig, M. R. (1995). Learning by doing for others: human capital and technical change in agriculture. Journal of Political Economy 103:1176–1209.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Granovetter, M. S. (1973). The strength of weak ties. American Journal of Sociology 78:1360–1380.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harriss, J. (2001). Depoliticizing Development: The World Bank and Social Capital. Anthem: London.Google Scholar
Jackson, C. (1995). Rescuing gender from the poverty trap. Gender Analysis in Development Series. Norwich, UK: University of East Anglia.Google Scholar
Joshi, P. K. and Bantilan, M. C. S. (1998). Impact assessment of crop and resource management technology: a case of groundnut production technology. Impact Series no. 2. Patancheru, India: International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics.Google Scholar
Kabeer, N. (1995). Targeting women or transforming institutions? Development in Practice 5:108–116.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kolli, R. D. and Bantilan, M. C. S. (1997). Gender-related impacts of improved agricultural technologies: identification of indicators from a case study. Gender Technology and Development 1:371–393.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kolli, R. D. and Padmaja, R. (1996). Effects of introduction of crop technologies in India's semi-arid tropics: a gender analysis approach. Draft report. (Limited distribution.) Patancheru, India: International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics.Google Scholar
Krishna, A. and Uphoff, N. (1999). Mapping and measuring social capital: a conceptual and empirical study of collective action for conserving and developing watersheds in Rajasthan, India. World Bank Social Capital Initiative Working Paper No. 13. Washington, DC: The World Bank.Google Scholar
Lin, N. (2001). Building a network theory of social capital. Connections 22:28–51.Google Scholar
Lockwood, M. (1995). Beyond the feminisation of poverty: gender-aware poverty reduction. BRIDGE Issue 2. Brighton, UK: University of Sussex. (http://www.bridge.ids.ac.uk/dgb2.html)Google Scholar
Moore, G. (1990). Structural determinants of men's and women's personal networks. American Sociological Review 55:726–735.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Molyneux, M. (2001). Social capital: a post transition concept? Questions of context and gender from a Latin American perspective. In An Appropriate Capital-Isation? Questioning Social Capital, 37–62 (Ed. Morrow, G.). Research in Progress Series No. 1, London School of Economics, Gender Institute.Google Scholar
Padmaja, R., Bantilan, M. C. S., Parthasarathy, D. and Gandhi, B. V. J. (2006). Gender and social capital mediated technology adoption. Impact Series 12. Patancheru, India: International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics.Google Scholar
Parthasarathy, D. and Chopde, V. K. (2000). Building social capital: collective action, adoption of agricultural innovations, and poverty reduction in the Indian semi-arid tropics. Paper presented at the Second Global Development Network Conference, 11–13 December 2000 Tokyo, Japan.Google Scholar
Portes, A. (1998). Social capital: its origins and applications in contemporary sociology. Annual Review of Sociology 24:1–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Putnam, R. D. (1993). Making Democracy Work. Civic Traditions in Modern Italy. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Reid, C. and Salmen, L. (2000). Understanding social capital. Agricultural extension in Mali: trust and social cohesion. World Bank Social Capital Initiative Working Paper no. 22. Washington, DC: The World Bank.Google Scholar
Woolcock, M. (2001). The place of social capital in understanding social and economic outcomes. Canadian Journal of Policy Research 2:11–17.Google Scholar
World Bank (2001). Social Analysis Source Book. Washington, DC: The World Bank.Google Scholar