Intrahousehold Productivity Differentials and Land Quality in the Sudanian Savanna of Mali

Given the important role that women play in African agriculture, the persistent “gender gap” in crop productivity entails considerable social and economic costs. Past research conducted in West Africa has attributed the gap to inefficient allocation of resources among family members within households. In many farming systems of West Africa, including dryland cereals production in the Sudanian Savanna of Mali, crops are produced by extended family farms on multiple plots managed by different members. In Mali, encouraging productivity growth through promoting the use of chemical fertilizer is a national policy priority. In a recent analysis, we tested the “gender gap” by comparing rates of fertilizer use and crop yields. In contrast to previous studies, we are able to control for land quality by introducing soil nutrient measurements (Smale et al. 2017)