Page 51 - Azerbaijan State University of Economics

Mbu Daniel Tambi, Mah-Soh Glennice Fosah: Econometric Modelling of Women
Empowerment and Agricultural Production in Cameroon

Further, marital status has a negative relationship with agricultural production. Those
married tend to decrease agricultural production by 30%, statistically significant at 1%
level. This finding is different from Novarty (2005) and Wouterse (2016) who showed
that agricultural productivity increase with respect to female and male controlled farms
as opposed to males only and females only. The negative relationship can be attributed to
the male dominance is households in Cameroon, most especially in the rural areas which
may discourage wives from fully participating in the farming process as their husbands
will siphon all profits. Moreover, Bahiigwa (1999) reveal that this negative relation is as
a result of interpersonal gender dynamics within the household, emanating from marriage
systems, which are responsible for much of women’s social exclusion.

With regards to age, the findings reveal that a one year increase in the age will increase
agricultural production by about 1.5% for both models and both statistically significant at
1% level of significance. Since age reflects the experience accumulated in both farming
and non-farming, it may, therefore, be associated with better income opportunities leading
to increase in skills and knowledge and thus better crop yield. Moreover, the positive
relationship between age and crop yield may be because such households tend to have
adult children who become part of the labour force in agricultural production.
Furthermore, the ability of a woman to employ crude implements in farming is highly
determined by age. The younger women are more likely to be physically fit enough to
utilize these crude tools. Consequently if the number of women farmers who are old is
higher than those who are young, then a potential decline in farming is imminent and this
will culminate in low food production. This justifies the increase in agricultural
production as the mean age of the population is middle aged.

In terms of agricultural inputs, the findings reveal that at 10% level of significance, a unit
increase in the use of fertilizer will lead to a 77% increase in crop yield for the 2SLS model
and a greater positive impact in the control function, significant at 1% level of significance.
In addition, ICRW research has also found that fertilizer helps women increase their
productivity. Those kinds of outcome empower women to become stronger and to more
effectively contribute financially to their families, communities and countries. The findings
also reveal that a unit increase in the size of the farm will lead to 43% and 85% increases in
agricultural output, significant at 5% and 1% given the 2SLS and control function model
respectively. The higher value and significant level of the control function estimate
emphasizes the positive impact of farm size on agricultural production. Land is the most
fundamental asset in agricultural production and stands in line with Wouterse (2016) who
conceptualized that households that have larger land area, a number of sources of non-farm
income, are likely to be more productive than their counterparts who either do not have the
factors or have poor amounts and qualities of them.

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