Sugarcane Commercialization and Gender Experiences in the Zambian “Sweetest Town”

ABSTRACT This article explores how sugarcane commercialization impacts gender relations, and processes that shape them, using two differently structured outgrower schemes – a settlement scheme and an European Union-driven block farm in southern Zambia. Results show gendered impacts across the schemes are complex and are shaped by diverse cultural arrangements as micro-processes. Intrahousehold patterns of decision making, land, and labor dynamics reveal that changing the structure, organization, and integration of outgrower schemes does not necessarily make them responsive to strategic gender needs. Further, these processes are insufficient in altering pre-existing sociocultural imbalances. Consequently, even where schemes are intentional about being inclusive, they are likely to replicate structural inequalities and fail to engender transformational changes among participants. This article raises the need to address the politics of land and labor relations, and their implications for different social groups within their cultural-historical context. HIGHLIGHTS Gendered impacts of commercial agriculture reflect market and nonmarket dynamics. Schemes amplify preexisting inequalities despite being intentional on inclusivity. Land ownership shapes women’s responses and political reactions in schemes. Inheritance patterns may address land inequalities but more needs to be done. Addressing strategic gender needs requires market and nonmarket interventions.