Growth for Rural Advancement

& Sustainable Progress (GRASP)

Working Paper 1:
Gender Analysis of Horticulture and Livestock
Value Chains in Sindh and Balochistan
1. Introduction
The Growth for Rural Advancement and Sustainable Progress (GRASP) project is funded by the European
Union (EU) and implemented by the International Trade Centre (ITC) in partnership with Food and
Agriculture Organization of United Nations (FAO) and Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF). The
objective of the project is poverty reduction and sustainable inclusive growth through development of rural
small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in respective selected districts of the provinces of Sindh and
Balochistan.
The project aims to enhance the productivity and profitability of SMEs involved in primary production,
service provision, and value addition in and around selected clusters of production. The GRASP project will
create gender-inclusive employment and income opportunities in rural areas through targeted support to
both the public and private sectors.

This project is part of the focal sector “Rural Development” of the European Union Strategy called
Multiannual Indicative Program (MIP) for Pakistan: 2014–2020. It will directly contribute to the attainment of
the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically SDG
1 (No Poverty), SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 5 (Gender Equality), SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth)
and SDG 13 (Climate Action).

The GRASP project interventions are located in 22 districts including 10 in Balochistan and 12 in Sindh. For
each district, identified products or value chains are targeted to improve the capacity and capability of
SMEs. This project prioritizes, strengthening, select value chains in horticulture (onion, tomato, mango,
dates, banana, grapes and olives) and livestock (cattle, sheep, goat and poultry).

As part of the project monitoring and evaluation component, a comprehensive baseline study was
completed in 2022 to gather primary and secondary data about the operating context and intended project
participants. A third-party firm M/S MMP Pakistan (Pvt.) Ltd. was engaged to conduct the baseline study.
This paper presents the key findings of this research particularly with respect to surfacing gendered analysis
drawn from this extensive data. The study surveyed 1,903 SMEs across 22 districts in the two provinces,
Balochistan and Sindh. Apart from SMEs, information was also collected from 97 Agri Business Service
Providers (ABSP), 39 Farmer Organizations (FO) and 384 Women Enterprises Groups (WEG). Additionally, to
collect qualitative information 84 Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) were conducted with SMEs, ABSPs, FOs
and WEGs members and 90 Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) with various types of stakeholders. The baseline

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was undertaken in the program districts which includes Kech, Kharan, Khuzdar, Lasbela, Musa Khel, Noshki,
Panjgur, Pishin, Quetta and Zhob from Balochistan and Hyderabad, Karachi, Khairpur, Mirpurkhas, Sajawal,
Mitiari, Sangar, Shaheed Benazir Abad, Tando Allah Yar, Thatta, Tharparkar and Tando Muhammad Khan from
Sindh province.

2. Context
Agriculture is the most important economic sector of Pakistan and contributes 21% to GDP. It employs 45% of
the country’s labour force1 in 8.3 million privately owned farms / SMEs with an average size of 2.6 hectares (6.4
acres)2. The contribution of agriculture to GDP has been gradually declining reflected by a slower growth
compared with other sectors. Agriculture grew by 2.77% in 2021 (provisional) over the previous year (base year
2005-06)3. Currently, agricultural productivity growth in Pakistan is one of the lowest in the world4 caused by
outdated cultivation technologies and practices, in particular in the provinces Balochistan and Sindh.

Livestock and horticulture, the two sectors that account for 70% of agri value addition, have potential to drive
the needed growth and employment creation. These two sectors have strong projected growth in demand,
opportunities for climate adaptation, and potential for gender-balanced growth. However, preliminary audits
and assessment have identified three major challenges mainly (a) business climate in Pakistan needs to be
more facilitative for SMEs, (b) low agricultural productivity and limited value addition by SMEs, and (c) low
gender equity.

A vibrant eco-system of Small and Medium Enterprises (SME)5 is essential to absorb the increasing workforce
and develop rural economies to reduce poverty. The business development climate in Pakistan is difficult for
any enterprise6 and particularly for smaller and medium sized ones7. Of the rural non-agricultural SMEs, 97%
employ 1-5 persons8. Around 70% of all non-agricultural SMEs are not registered and operate informally9.

Although Pakistan only contributes about 0.9% to global carbon emissions, it is the 8th most affected country
by climate change10. Pakistan witnessed more than 155 extreme weather events from 1999 to 2022. Many areas
in Sindh and Balochistan often fluctuate between droughts and flash floods that severely interrupt agriculture
value chains’ productivity. In 2022, these were the wo provinces of the country that were worst affected by the
severe monsoon floods. As per the Post-Disaster Needs Assessment by Planning Commission of Pakistan, an
estimated 4,410 million acres of agricultural land has been damaged, and 0.8 million livestock are estimated to
have perished across 94 calamity-affected districts of the country. Sindh and Balochistan are the most affected
provinces, contributing 72 percent and 21 percent respectively to the total value of damage and losses
registered in the sector11.

Prior to this recent climate-induced humanitarian crises, since the year 2020, the global COVID-19 pandemic
also adversely impacted the performance of these value chains in Sindh and Balochistan. A majority of Micro,
Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) reported that their businesses, if not severely affected have been
partially affected. The key impacts of COVID-19 on these enterprises have been felt of in the form of staff

1 Pakistan Labour Force Survey 2014-2015. Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, Government of Pakistan.
2 Agricultural Census 2010. Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, Government of Pakistan.
3 Pakistan Economic Survey 2021-22. Finance Division, Government of Pakistan.
4 IFPRI 2016: Pakistan ranked 107 out of 109 countries for TFP agricultural productivity growth and 108 out of 111 for agricultural
output growth.
5 In the context of this document, SME applies to both agricultural and non-agricultural SMEs, unless specifically mentioned
otherwise.
6 In 2015, Pakistan scored 138 out of 189 on the ease of doing business index, World Bank.
7 SME presentation (2016). Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA).
8 Economic Census 2005. Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, Government of Pakistan.
9 Pakistan Economic Survey 2015-2016. Finance Division, Government of Pakistan.
10
Global Climate Risk Index 2021. Germanwatch.
11
Pakistan Floods 2022: Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (October 2022). Ministry of Planning Development & Special Initiatives. The
Government of Pakistan, Asian Development Bank, European Union, United Nations Development Programme, World Bank.

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lay-offs due to reduction in business activities.

An important angle of analysis in this research was to understand the gendered differentials between access
to inputs, information, capacity building opportunities, finance and marketing that determined their
participation and benefit from different stages of the value chain. Overall, Pakistan has been ranked as the
second-worst country in terms of gender parity, placed 145 out of 146 states in a recent repor12. However, in
the latest Global Gender Gap Report released by the World Economic Forum. However, the report stated that
Pakistan has closed 56.4% of the gender gap in 2022 — the highest overall level of parity the country has
posted since the report launched in 2006. Pakistan has made “significant improvement” across three
subindexes, with the highest positive variation on economic participation and opportunity. The country
ranked 145 on economic participation and opportunity, 143 on health and survival, 135 on educational
attainment and 95 on political participation.

Economic participation of women remains strongly influenced by deep rooted systemic impediments to
gender equality which continue to prevent them from reaching their full potential. These impediments in
both provinces include, patriarchal set up with limited mobility, limited decision-making power, little
opportunities for higher education and lack of access to technical modern farming skills. Similarly, women’s
ownership of agriculture land and property remains low despite progressive legislation introduced in recent
years to protect women’s inheritance rights in line with the Constitution and Islamic law. Pakistan has
introduced several gender-friendly laws in the last two decades, including the Enforcement of Women’s
Property Rights (Amendment) Bill, 2021 and the Prevention of Anti-Women Practices Act, 2011. According to
the Demographic and Health Survey 2017-18, “97% of women [across Pakistan] did not inherit land or a
house, while 1% each inherited agricultural land and a house. Less than 1% of women inherited
non-agricultural plots or residential plots."10

Women also generally enjoy less access to skills training in the field of agriculture to, for instance, enhance
quality packaging and marketing of their products orand how to prevent post-harvest losses and reduce
input cost. Woman rarely have access to training programs and extension services, as predominantly the
extension staff comprised male members which inhibits their participation due to cultural, traditional and
mobility constraints. In addition to this, a woman has limited opportunities available since traditionally she
has to perform the mandatory household chores. Women’s labour is often under reported and under
acknowledged in the agriculture sector.

3. Policy framework
At present in both the provinces, there are 39 policies, acts and strategies related to respective value chains
either developed and notified or under consideration of their approval / implementation. While SMEs
registration policies exist at both the federal and provisional levels, these do not include policies around rural
SMEs of livestock and horticulture businesses.

The baseline research conducted for GRASP indicates that the policy formulation process does not
adequately benefit from women’s voices. The survey highlighted that a very small percentage of Women
Enterprise Groups (WEG) i.e. 6% are engaged with private sector policy working groups, groups that are
categorized into those providing their recommendations for developing private-sector policies respectively
for horticulture and livestock sectors. As noted in the following table, in Sindh, only eight women (3.7%)
acknowledged their participation, while in Balochistan, the number of women participating in private sector
policy working groups was 15 (9%): The private sector comprises, the fertilizers/pesticides industry,

12
Global Gender Gap Report 2022. World Economic Forum.
13
Women's right to inheritance is enshrined in Islam and the law — why do they still have to fight for it? - Pakistan (5 March
2022). Dawn.

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sugarcane, rice mills, agricultural equipment/machinery supplier and national and international
non-governmental organization working in both the provinces.

Table No. 1: Incidence of women par�cipa�on, through WEGs, in private sector policy working
groups

Sindh Balochistan Cumulative

No. of No. of No. of

Response WEGs age% WEGs age% WEGs age%
interviewed interviewed interviewed

Yes 8 3.7 15 9.0 23 6.0

No 210 96.3 151 91.0 361 94.0
Overall 218 100.0 166 100.0 384 100.0

This provincial difference in access to private sector policy corridors is worth noting as it stands apart from the
rest of the research findings which generally depict higher women’s participation in economic activity in Sindh
as compared to Balochistan.

The same research also surfaced that 96.6% of WEGs showed no evidence of participation in public sector
policy working groups:
Table No. 2: Evidence of par�cipa�on of WEGs in public sector policy working group

Sindh Balochistan Cumulative

Response No. of No. of No. of

WEGs age% WEGs age% WEGs age%
interviewed interviewed interviewed

Yes 13 6.0 - - 13 3.4

No 205 94.0 166 100.0 371 96.6

Overall 218 100.0 166 100.0 384 100.0

4. SMEs Registration Status

As noted in the context section of this paper, Pakistan’s agriculture sector mainly operates in the informal
economy. This research findings are consistent with this well-known fact as it showed that only 6% of the
surveyed SMEs (i.e. from a sample size of 1,903 SMEs) are registered with different authorities, while the
majority (94%) are operating their businesses without registration. The main reason is that the small farmers
and small business holders are unaware of the registration process and its benefits. Within this total reported
figure of only 6% SMEs currently registered, there is a considerable gendered difference as men-owned SMEs
are twice as likely to be registered as compared to women-owned SMEs, as noted in the following table no 3:

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Table No. 3: SME Registra�on - Gender wise

Sindh Balochistan Overall

Male Female Overall Male Female Overall Male Female Overall

SME Status
% % % % % % % % %

Registered 10.2 5.7 10.0 2.1 - 2.1 6.0 3.5 5.9

Unregistered 89.8 94.3 90.0 97.9 100.0 98.0 94.0 96.5 94.1
Overall 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

This analysis highlights the significant need to support SMEs in general and women-owned SMEs in
particular regarding the process of formally registering their businesses.

5. Gender Roles in Value Chains

The research provided valuable information regarding the level of participation of women in different
stage of the value chain and the challenges they face. Women respondents generally exhibited a low
level of awareness of and importantly, access to market opportunities, consumer preferences related
quality standards. This inhibits their profit margins. Women are largely dependent on their male
counterparts for decision making regarding buying, selling, production, marketing, linkages
development and other main economic and financial activities. Due to these factors, men mostly held
financial resources and because of this advantageous position took major decisions. Rural women
entrepreneurs are also facing difficulties in accessing inputs such as raw material, new products and
services and technologies due to cultural constraints especially in Balochistan province.

5.1 Women’s Participation in Horticulture Value Chains:

This research highlighted that women tend to be involved in the relatively lower profitability and lower
income stages of all the 11 value chains surveyed. The following analysis of different point of sales for the
various value chains shows that due to cultural barriers and mobility constraints, only those platforms are
accessible and are being utilized by women growers where profit margins are low and economic
exploitation is high (such as markets, arthi/middleman or whole seller), whereas men have access to all
five platforms resulting in higher profitability prospects. That being said, processors and retailers seem to
be inaccessible to both women and men, but barriers are higher for women. The onion, dates and banana
value chains are exceptions where women have access to not only markets and arthi, but also processors
or whole sellers. Similarly, grapes and olive value chains are highly male dominated where women are
not involved in sale of products.

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Figure No.1: Shows the Gender-wise break-up of Point of Sale U�lized by Growers

Similarly, men’s dominance at local, national and international markets in case of whole-seller market
destination is also evident. The research showed that the surveyed whole-seller women have no access
to local, national and international markets in any value chain except onion and banana where they’ve
access is limited to local market only:

Figure No.2: Gender-wise Break-up whole-seller Market Des�na�on

5.2 Women’s Participation in Livestock Value Chains:

A similar pattern can be observed in the livestock value chain where men enjoy greater access to local
market and whole seller as compared to women who mostly sell animal/milk/ wool/ mohair to
individuals or Beoparais/middleman where profit margins are relatively low and vulnerability to
economic exploitation is higher.

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Table No. 4: Point of sale for animal /milk/ wool/ mohair

Mul�ple responses

Sindh Balochistan Overall

Point of sales Male Female Overall Male Female Overall Male Female Overall

% % % % % % % % %
Individually 47.5 38.1 46.3 67.2 - 67.2 60.8 38.1 59.7
Boparai 57.5 52.4 56.8 32.4 - 32.4 40.6 52.4 41.2
Whole-seller
7.8 4.8 7.4 15.9 - 15.9 13.2 4.8 12.8
(national)
Directly to local
28.4 4.8 25.3 37.6 - 37.6 34.6 4.8 33.2
market
Processor 6.4 - 5.6 3.5 - 3.5 4.4 - 4.2
Milk Collector 31.9 9.5 29.0 11.0 - 11.0 17.9 9.5 17.5
Restaurant/Bakery 2.8 - 2.5 4.5 - 4.5 3.9 - 3.8
Exporter 0.7 - 0.6 2.8 - 2.8 2.1 - 2.0

The research also showed that there are stark contextual differences between the two provinces. In
Balochistan, involvement of women in all the above-mentioned value chains is noticeably missing at the
point of sale as well as access to local, national and international markets. In Balochistan, generally
women managing the livestock at home level without any profit.

6. Employment in SMEs
Of 1,903 SMEs, 437 having male/female FTEs provided their response. Of those who provided response,
the average number of male FTE in a SME was estimated at six while the female FTE was only one.
However, if all 1,903 SMEs are considered the total male FTEs were 3,245 (Sindh: 1,744, Balochistan 1,501)
and 366 (Sindh: 170 and Balochistan 196) were female FTEs. As such there were 1.71 male FTE per SME
and 0.19 female FTEs per SME.

Table No. 5: Average number of male FTE employees in SME

Sindh Balochistan Overall
Number
No. % Mean No. % Mean No. % Mean
None 71 21.2 - 23 12.4 - 94 18.1 -
One 30 9.0 1 10 5.4 1 40 7.7 1
Two 27 8.1 2 11 6.0 2 38 7.3 2
Three – Five 79 23.6 4 20 10.8 4 99 19.0 4
Six – Ten 88 26.3 8 64 34.6 8 152 29.2 8
Eleven – Twenty 35 10.5 12 51 27.6 13 86 16.5 13
Above 20 5 1.5 43 6 3.2 28 11 2.1 35
Overall 335 100.0 5 185 100.0 8 520 100.0 6

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Table No. 6: Average number of female FTE employees in SME

Sindh Balochistan Overall
Number
No. % Mean No. % Mean No. % Mean
None 295 88.1 - 157 84.9 - 452 86.9 -
One 5 1.5 1 - - - 5 1.0 1
Two 7 2.1 2 3 1.6 2 10 1.9 2
Three – Five 17 5.1 4 3 1.6 4 20 3.9 4
Six – Ten 10 3.0 7 20 10.8 8 30 5.8 7
Eleven – Twenty 1 0.3 15 2 1.1 12 3 0.6 13
Overall 335 100.0 1 185 100.0 1 520 100.0 1

7. Women in Agri Business Service Providers

An important aspect of enabling women’s participation in rural value chains is the extent to which
women are included in the agro business service provider (ABSP) role. The study reports that, no women
was found engaged at the supply side by ABSPs, whereas, after conducting KII, the agriculture and
livestock extension departments have shown the participation of women in SME support, instead they
were of the view that they are facing a shortage of female members due increased in female farmers in
the area. In particular they are facing difficulty in provisioning of extension services to the women
farmers regarding horticulture and livestock. At present, few women workers are available at district level
who was delivering their services in kitchen gardening, basic management of livestock and poultry at
household level. Their approach to women farmer is very limited because of mobility issues, long
distances, scattered number of women farmers at union council level. There is need to develop the cadre
of women master trainers certified by department for the provision of extension services to women
farmers at local level. This will resolve the mobility and shortage of women staff being currently faced by
the concerned departments. As none of the ABSPs surveyed confirmed employment of woman with their
entities. The survey further showed that 37 out of 384 WEGs members are working in ABSP as reflected in
the following Table:

Table No. 7: Women members working as ABSP in private sector

Province Sindh Balochistan Overall

Incidence No. % No. % No. %

Yes 23 10.6 14 8.4 37 9.6

No 195 89.5 152 91.6 347 90.4
Overall 218 100.0 166 100.0 384 100.0

Women involvement at supply side was minimal as none of the 47 ABSPs surveyed engaged any female
employee. They were only evident in providing some basic services on individual basis. This information
was gathered from the surveyed WEGs.

8. Access to Finance
Woman Enterprise Groups (WEGs) indicated that one of the reasons why business support organizations
were unable to support women and women groups in improving their enterprises is because of limited
access to financial assistance. Overall, only 8.1% WEGs claimed that they had knowledge about MFIs for
financing, while access to this information was higher at 11% in Sindh and lower at 4.2% in Balochistan.

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From Sindh they confirmed their access to multiple MFIs, whereas in Balochistan women entrepreneurs
said that they did not have relevant documents or access to microfinance services from any MFI.

The information collected from WEG from Sindh revealed that only 11% of them were having knowledge
of availing finances from FIs. Of these WEG, 75% from Sindh reported their access to NRS. While those
who were having knowledge of FIs in Balochistan, 85.7% said that they did not know of accessibility to
FIs. KIIs convened elaborated the position in Balochistan by reporting low activity of FIs due to
law-and-order situation.
Table No. 8: Knowledge of WEG about FIs for financing

Sindh Balochistan Overall

Incidence
No. % No. % No. %

Yes 24 11.0 7 4.2 31 8.1

No 194 89.0 159 95.8 353 91.9
Overall 218 100.0 166 100.0 384 100.0

9. Access to Information and Training

The research findings show that amongst 384 WEGs, only 17.5% claimed to have attended any training
on grading/processing of products as shown in the following chart:

Figure No.3: WEG members a�ending any training on grading/processing of products in targeted value

Sanitary and Phyto-sanitary (SPS) Compliance and Awareness:

The research findings further shows that more than 87% of the respondents do not have information
about food safety and SPS concepts of which women’s ratio was higher at 93%. The situation was more
challenging in Balochistan as compared to Sindh as shown in the following table:
Table No. 9: Awareness of food safety and SPS concept
Sindh Balochistan Overall
Incidence Male Female Overall Male Female Overall Male Female Overall
% % % % % % % % %
Yes 17.4 11.4 17.2 7.4 - 7.3 12.2 7.0 12.1
No 82.6 88.6 82.8 92.6 100.0 92.7 87.8 93.0 87.9
Overall 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

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The research also explored the participants’ knowledge about laboratories from where the quality of a
product can be certified before marketing. The baseline results showed that 100% women and 96.8 %
men did not know about the laboratories from where their products/produce can be verified and
certified before going to market to get the optimum price and compete in national and international
markets.

Table No. 10: Awareness of any laboratory from where quality of a product can be cer�fied for
marke�ng

Sindh Balochistan Overall

Incidence Male Female Overall Male Female Overall Male Female Overall

% % % % % % % % %

Yes 2.9 - 2.8 3.5 - 3.4 3.2 - 3.1

No 97.1 100.0 97.2 96.5 100.0 96.6 96.8 100.0 96.9
Overall 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

10. Conclusion:
This study has offered valuable insights and data regarding the varying level of men and women’s
participation at different stages of the values chains. The study shows varying levels of women and men
participation in access to markets, trainings, ABSPs and finance. Compared to men, women are engaged
in less profitable access to markets, and lack access to finance, information and training. It has also
highlighted important regional difference between the two provinces. Considering this gender analysis,
a holistic approach is required by policy makers, government and private sector actors, and development
partners to address the multifaceted barriers that limit women’s participation to relatively lower
profitability stages of the value chains.

GRASP seeks to contribute to addressing some of these key barriers in order to strength climate smart,
resilient and gender inclusive value chains. It will focus on implementing three major components: 1)
improvement of the regulatory framework for prioritized value chains; 2) increase in productivity, quality
and sustainability of selected value chain in horticulture and livestock; and 3) SME commercialization
within selected value chains to reform the agriculture market. Across these components, the project
specifically focuses on empowering women by bringing them into policy dialogues, creating economic
opportunities in farming and processing, with a special focus on women-owned businesses, and building
capacity of women’s support organizations.

Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund

Plot 14, Street 12, Mauve Area, G-8/1, Islamabad, Pakistan; UAN: +92-51-111-000-102; Website: www.ppaf.org.pk
For more information about Growth for Rural Advancement & Sustainable Progress: www.ppaf.org.pk/GRASP
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