Contract Farming and Food Security Nexus: A Gender Perspective of the Avocado Sector in Kenya

Contract farming (CF) is slowly gaining ground in Kenya, with the government urging farmers to dive deep, without thinking of its implications on the food security of the country. In Kenya, farmers are urged and almost coerced into the growing of avocado, and to abandon the farming of staple food crops with the promise that it will fetch better prices and higher incomes. While previous studies have shown the improved income for smallholder farmers who take part in contract farming, gender relations within contract farming schemes have largely been neglected. While contract farming is seen to be beneficial for the farmers who engage in it, the implications of ignoring one gender are dire and can lead to severe consequences like food insecurity in a country. This study seeks to make a connection between the complex interplay between food production and gender and how women are continually being kept out of modern supply chain systems like contract farming and suffering food insecurity in the process. This paper follows up on a gendered value chain analysis commonly done in the Global South Countries.