Invisible labour, active agency: a feminist geography of maize farming in the Philippines

Maize farming in the Philippines is a gendered livelihood system shaped by unequal access to resources, decision-making power, and institutional support. Using a sex-disaggregated household survey of 337 farmers, this study examines how women and men differ in agricultural roles, livelihood constraints, and access to services. Guided by Gender and Development and feminist geography, the findings show that women, who comprised two-thirds of respondents, were central to financial management, post-harvest work, and household provisioning, whereas men dominated land preparation, planting, and marketing. Women nevertheless faced greater barriers to capital and formal support. They exercised active and adaptive agency through income control, informal knowledge networks, and full farm management in women-headed households. The findings challenge assumptions that men are the primary farmers and support gender-transformative policies expanding women’s access to credit, extension services, and cooperative membership across Southeast Asian smallholder systems.