Volume 59, Issue 325, January 2023

Gender role and participation in mandarin postharvest practices in Nepal

Yogendra Acharya^♦1, Sudha Sapkota²

¹Planning Division, Nepal Agricultural Research Council, Singhdurbar Plaza, Nepal
²Monitoring and Evaluation Division, Nepal Agricultural Research Council, Singhdurbar Plaza, Nepal

^♦Corresponding author
Planning Division, Nepal Agricultural Research Council, Singhdurbar Plaza, Nepal Orcid id: 0000-0002-2447-5217

ABSTRACT

This study was conducted to assess gender role and participation in mandarin postharvest activities in Nepal. Two districts under Gandaki province, Tanahun and Syangja were selected for study purpose. A total of 90 Mandarin farmers, 45 from each district were selected using simple random method of sampling. Semistructured pre-tested interview schedule was used for primary data collection. Two focus group discussions and field observation of mandarin orchard was carried out. Data were analyzed by using both descriptive and inferential statistics. This paper explored the gender involvement in four major postharvest activities of mandarin farming. The findings indicated that female participation was higher in mandarin grading (43.3%) followed by mandarin packaging (22.2%), mandarin marketing (16.7%) and mandarin harvesting (15.6%). Similarly, it was noticed that male participation was more (59.9%) in marketing operation than others. Likewise, study showed that among female respondents only 28% female were acquainted with post-harvest related information while awareness among males was 49%. Furthermore, it was also observed that male dominates female in terms of wage rate in mandarin post-harvest activities which was primarily due to social context, accessibility and out migration situation. To make an impact to increase gender role and participation in mandarin postharvest operation, concerned program and organization need to consider gender dimension (unbiasedness, awareness, personal behaviour) and post-harvest knowledge associated with it ensuring female farmers can be better empowered in reducing postharvest loss.

Keywords: gender, mandarin, post-harvest

Discovery, 2023, 59, e3d1012

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Published: January 2023