The paper tests this assumption using an extremely detailed farm-level agronomic data set from six villages in Burkina Faso. An important characteristic of the farming systems in these villages, as in much of Sub-Saharan Africa, is that different members of the household simultaneously cultivate the same crop on different plots. The analysis produced several surprising findings that contradict the assumption that household production factors are allocated efficiently between men and women. The analysis produced several surprising findings that contradict the assumption that household production factors are allocated efficiently between men and women. Plots controlled by men have higher labor inputs by both men and children than do plots controlled by women.
Plots controlled by women have labor inputs primarily from the women themselves.
The study also found that, due primarily to unequal allocation of manure, plots controlled by women have significantly lower yields than plots within the same household planted to the same crop but controlled by men about 20 percent lower for vegetable crops and 40 percent lower for sorghum. Previous studies have found differences in output per acre or per person but failed to isolate the source of these differences. This analysis found that the output of women's plots, and therefore total household output, could be increased by about 10 percent simply by moving some fertilizer from plots controlled by men to similar plots controlled by women. These findings suggest that a richer model of household behavior one that takes into account internal household dynamics and recognizes that individuals compete as well as cooperate is necessary for understanding the structure of agricultural production and for designing appropriate policy interventions. These dynamics have affected a number of efforts to improve agriculture in Africa.