Gendered Access to Productive Resources, Capacity Building, and the Sustainability of Sweet Potato Production Programmes: Evidence from Smallholder Farming Systems in Western Kenya.

Gender inequalities in access to productive resources and agricultural capacity-building interventions continue to undermine the sustainability of smallholder farming systems across Sub-Saharan Africa. Despite the growing importance of sweet potato production in enhancing food security, climate resilience, and rural livelihoods, limited empirical evidence exists on how gender-responsive interventions shape sustainability outcomes within crop-specific agricultural programmes. This study examined the influence of gendered access to productive resources and gender-based capacity building on the sustainability of sweet potato production programmes in Rachuonyo East Sub-County, Kenya. The study employed a convergent mixed-methods design integrating quantitative and qualitative approaches. Data were collected from 365 smallholder sweet potato farmers through structured questionnaires and from four key informants using semi-structured interviews. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics, while qualitative data were subjected to thematic analysis. The findings reveal significant gender disparities in access to land, credit, agricultural technologies, extension services, and training opportunities. Women, despite constituting the majority of the labour force in sweet potato production, experienced limited control over productive assets and reduced participation in agricultural decision-making processes. The study further established that unequal access to productive resources constrains investment in sustainable farming practices, while gendered exclusion from capacity-building systems weakens innovation adoption, commercialisation, and adaptive resilience. The interaction between productive resource access and capacity building emerged as a critical determinant of sustainability outcomes. The study concludes that sustainable sweet potato production requires integrated gender-transformative interventions that simultaneously strengthen women’s access to productive resources and inclusive agricultural knowledge systems. The findings contribute to agricultural sustainability and project management scholarship by demonstrating that sustainability in smallholder farming systems is fundamentally shaped by gendered institutional structures