Gender and agricultural change: Crop-livestock integration in Senegal

In this article we evaluate stabling, a farm technology now being adopted by households in southern Senegal. We use data fr om southern Senegal to analyze the decision to adopt stabling and the impacts of adoption on family members. Our analyses use insights fr om several frameworks such as bargaining models and the transaction cost approach, models that assume multiple preferences within households and conceptualize decision making as a process related to the social organization of the household. We estimate an empirical adoption model and find that including indicators of household structure and wives' characteristics in addition to the variables traditionally used (e.g. household head's characteristics) adds to the model's explanatory power. Our analysis of impacts finds that stabling increases demand for family labor and may result in loss of an important income source for women. However, overall it appears stabling has improved family welfare since men share some of the benefits with their families. Women also want to adopt stabling so that they will be better able to provide for their families.