Kenyan agri-businesswomen including small farmers in the value chain: are they “agents of change”?

Abstract

Purpose Development organizations expect agri-businesswomen to act as “agents of change” in development by including small farmers in the value chain, especially women, and in doing so, contribute to the SDGs. By empirically studying how Kenyan agri-businesswomen do this and how small farmers perceive the impact, this article examines whether they are fulfilling these expectations. Design/methodology/approach Inspired by feminist standpoint theory, this article focuses on twenty Kenyan agri-businesswomen's practices and experiences, and the perspectives of the small farmers they aim to include in the value chain, taking their positions in society in consideration. Findings The agri-businesswomen generally included large numbers of small farmers in the value chain through practices of contract farming and collective organization of producers, but also struggled to keep them included and sustain benefits for them. The pressure to ensure business survival in a volatile context frequently compelled them to exclude the most vulnerable farmers from the value chain, and women tend to belong to this group. Some agri-businesswomen actively sought to support female cultivators, but their women-focused activities did not always lead to inclusion, particularly when they were perceived by female cultivators to conflict with gender norms in the village. Originality/value Despite the high expectations of development organizations, little has been published on African agri-businesswomen and how they practice inclusion of small farmers in the value chain, and how the impact of these practices on farmers is deeply informed by intersecting gender dynamics.