The political economy of gender bias in access to fertiliser: A case study on fertiliser subsidies in Malawi and Tanzania

Sammanfattning: It is increasingly agreed upon by both scholars and policymakers that policies have different gendered effects. Agricultural input subsidies are highly debated policies in Africa. They were popular in the 1960s and 1970s, removed under the SAPs and liberalisation schemes in the 1980s and 1990s, and have been making a comeback since the turn of the century. This study aims to analyse to what extent gender bias has impacted access to fertiliser in the context of the re-introduction of fertiliser subsidies, after the assumed liberalisation-induced increase in gender bias. A two-fold method is used, by first conducting an econometric analysis using OLS and Probit models, and next explaining and contextualising the findings using a political economy approach. The data used is the first three waves of the AFRINT project of Lund University. Based on the analysis, it can be concluded that no direct gender bias (positive or negative) was found in the econometric analysis. Nevertheless, the discussion has shown that there are potential indirect negative gender biases through factors such as access to political networks, information, education, and market participation. The results of the analysis, thus, indicate that through the targeting criteria of the fertiliser subsidies, it is unlikely that the gender bias in access to fertiliser will be significantly reduced. This study contributes both to the literature analysing the effectiveness of input subsidies as well as to the agricultural political economy literature. Additionally, it is relevant for policy makers interested in the impacts of input subsidies on the gender gap.