A rural‐centric model for understanding women's later life precarity in an agrarian economy in Uganda

Abstract

Aging as a woman within the context of agricultural transformation where production and consumption values shape everyday life raises concerns of later life precarity. Gender economic inclusion is imperative in the achievement of inclusive rural development. But there is a tendency to homogenize female experiences of poverty based on gender and class, ignoring the impact of global economic and social changes on Uganda's rural economy and the elderly. Furthermore, in the agrarian context, precarity hinges on gender images of a desirable agricultural worker and neoliberal policies that exacerbate vulnerabilities of elderly women already living on the economic margins of global capitalism. Drawing on rural‐dwelling older women's narratives, this article reveals that precarity in an environment of agrarian capitalism is a product of conflict between the desire to maintain relationships of reciprocity and engagement in production. In this article, a five‐tier rural‐centric model relevant to conceptualising risk factors to precarity is proposed. The model is influenced by the Bourdieusian theory of capital and Gudeman's economy theory. The model provides an opportunity to re‐imagine and situate older women's later life precarity within the wider sociopolitical and economic context, and consequently design appropriate social protection initiatives.