Gender impacts on adoption of new technologies: the case of improved groundnut varieties in Uganda

Peanuts are a key crop in Uganda and are grown by both male and female farmers, although there is a strong inclination for resource-use decisions to be performed by specific genders. This paper identifies opportunities and participation by women and men in the decision to adopt improved peanut varieties in Uganda using a unique dataset from 20 leading peanut-growing districts in the country. The results indicate that there are gender differences in adopting improved varieties of peanuts. In addition, women in female-headed households are less likely to adopt improved varieties compared to women and men in male-headed households, suggesting that they may have less access to resources than women in male-headed households. The gender of the household head has implications for the adoption of improved technologies by women. Moreover, this imbalance in resource access and income-improving decision-making ability by women may have implications for the adoption of other technologies that could improve household welfare.