Mapping Gender Roles in Family Farm Wheat Production in Central Afghanistan:
The contributions of women in agriculture are often invisible or otherwise poorly recognized, especially in settings such as rural Afghanistan, where women's work is largely home-based. This study maps key informants' perceptions of gender roles along the full wheat value chain in Afghanistan. We present a deep, localized overview of gender roles in family farming operations in central Afghanistan to understand household-level wheat production, processing, and decision making. Data were collected through focus-group discussions with 120 respondents from small and medium-size wheat farms in four key wheat-producing districts in Kabul Province. Constant comparative analysis was used to draw results from qualitative data, with member checks to strengthen trustworthiness. Results indicate that both men and women view women's roles as integral to family farm operations, adding value to wheat at various stages, including storage, washing, and seed selection, cultivation, and harvest. Still, women are often overlooked by research and extension programming. Recommendations for practitioners and policymakers are presented. Importantly, this research and the recommendations put forward in this paper were completed prior to the Taliban-led government of Afghanistan, which has prompted significant changes, including to women's access and participation in public life.