Metal silos can reduce maize losses during storage in smallholder farm systems, contributing towards international goals of reducing food waste and moving towards Sustainable Development Goal 2, Zero Hunger. However, technologies are introduced into farming systems with complex sets of relationships. These may differentially affect the ability of women and men to secure the expected benefits of metal silos. This, in turn, may affect adoption rates and expected outcomes. To better understand these relationships, a mixed methods study was conducted in Kenya, Malawi, Zimbabwe and Zambia where metal silos were introduced through the Effective Grain Storage Project (EGSP). EGSP distributed 1717 metal silos across the four countries.

Quantitative surveys using random sampling were conducted in Kenya (124 respondents) and Malawi (100 respondents) with metal silo owners. Qualitative surveys, using purposive sampling, were conducted in all four countries covering 14 ethnic groups using focus group discussions (360 respondents), key informant interviews (62 respondents), and household case studies (62 respondents). The aim was to understand gendered post-harvest management and storage strategies in traditional systems and to map changes when metal silos were introduced.

The findings suggest roles and responsibilities regarding the ownership and management of storage structures are strongly gendered with some differences between ethnic groups and countries. Men benefit more than women from the introduction of metal silos. Ownership of the grain storage facility, and the benefits attached to ownership, can switch from women to men with women having less scope for bargaining over their rights to use the stored grain for their own needs and the benefit of all household members. Women and men fail to fully follow guidelines for effective use of metal silos. They differ in their preferred attributes for their ideal storage system. Whilst some attributes are shared, women’s preferences were sharply differentiated from men in others.

金属筒仓可以减少小农系统储存过程中的玉米损失，有助于实现减少食物浪费的国际目标，并实现可持续发展目标 2，零饥饿。然而，技术被引入具有复杂关系的农业系统。这些可能会不同地影响女性和男性确保金属筒仓预期收益的能力。反过来，这可能会影响采用率和预期结果。为了更好地了解这些关系，在肯尼亚、马拉维、津巴布韦和赞比亚进行了一项混合方法研究，通过有效粮食储存项目 (EGSP) 在这些地方引入了金属筒仓。EGSP 在四个国家分布了 1717 个金属筒仓。

在肯尼亚（124 名受访者）和马拉维（100 名受访者）对金属筒仓所有者进行了使用随机抽样的定量调查。使用有目的抽样的定性调查在所有四个国家进行，涵盖 14 个民族，使用焦点小组讨论（360 名受访者）、关键知情人访谈（62 名受访者）和家庭案例研究（62 名受访者）。目的是了解传统系统中性别化的收获后管理和存储策略，并在引入金属筒仓时绘制变化图。

调查结果表明，在存储结构的所有权和管理方面的角色和责任存在强烈的性别差异，种族群体和国家之间存在一些差异。引入金属筒仓后，男性比女性受益更多。粮食储存设施的所有权以及所有权带来的好处可以从女性转为男性，女性在使用储存粮食满足自身需要和所有家庭成员利益的权利方面的讨价还价空间较小。女性和男性未能完全遵循有效使用金属筒仓的准则。它们在理想存储系统的首选属性上有所不同。虽然有些属性是共享的，但在其他方面，女性的偏好与男性截然不同。