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Resource centre on India's rural distress
 
 

Weeding out a gender bias by Surinder Sud

Women farmers suffer gross bias a global meet will look to change this

Nearly half of the agricultural work is handled by women in developing countries and India is no exception. Yet, strategies for the development of agriculture are directed primarily at men. Barely five per cent of the extension efforts and resources are targeted at farm women. This failing, predictably, costs a good amount owing to loss of a part of potential farm production.

If women are provided with the same access to resources – assets, inputs and services – as men, agricultural production could swell by 2.5 per cent to 4.0 per cent in the entire developing world, estimates a 2011 study by Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO. This, in turn, could lead to a drop of 12 to 17 per cent in the number of hungry people. Besides, it could enhance household income, leading to better living standards and livelihood security.

India’s position in empowerment of women is unique in some ways. It has reserved one-third of the seats in village panchayats (rural civic bodies) for women. And a similar provision is being considered for some state legislatures and Parliament. Yet, this seemingly formidable political empowerment has not led to adequate improvement in the socio-economic stature of rural women in general.
Neither economic reforms nor other policy reforms have taken gender issues into reckoning. Males still hold the sway in rural socio-economic set-up. Health and nourishment are among the biggest concerns. Though women cook for the family, they themselves remain largely underfed. The incidence of malnutrition among women in India is nearly as high as in food-deficit Sub-Saharan countries.

They are, invariably, paid lower wages than men for the same agricultural work. Land ownership titles (pattas) are most often in a man’s name. Most of the decisions concerning farming are taken by men though many of these are implemented by women. Farm produce is marketed commonly by men and that gives them complete hold over household finances. To top it all, the burden of looking after livestock, bringing up children and doing other household chores is shouldered almost entirely by women.

Given this ground reality, it is appropriate that the first-ever “global conference on women in agriculture” is being held in India (New Delhi) later this month and some Indian farm research-related organisations are among its sponsors. These include the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and the New Delhi-based Trust for Advancement of Agricultural Sciences (TAAS). The global bodies sponsoring this meet include the Global Forum on Agriculture Research (GFAR) and the Asia-Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions (APAARI), among others.

What should be of special interest to India at this conference is the proposal to put together a framework for action to integrate and empower women for inclusive growth and development. Also relevant is the meet’s objective to identify the gaps and needs concerning gender issues in agriculture in areas like policies and institutions, research, education and extension.

Drudgery reduction, economic emancipation and better education opportunities are among the key needs of Indian rural women.

Paddy transplanting, carried out largely by women in most areas, is one of the most strenuous farm operations. But it has received little attention by way of drudgery reduction.

“Societies that have laid adequate stress on educating women have progressed more in different fields,” says noted agricultural expert R S Paroda, who is also the executive secretary of APAARI and chairman of TAAS. Female literacy is also related to population control since families of literate housewives are usually smaller.

Fortunately, India has been the first country in the world to set up a National Research Centre for Women in Agriculture way back in 1996. This centre works towards lessening the physical strain involved in farm and household tasks carried out predominantly by women. The technologies and ideas being generated at this centre obviously need to be disseminated widely for the benefit of rural women. That, regrettably, is not happening to the desired extent.

Hopefully, the global conference on women in agriculture that is likely to be attended by policy makers from India and several other countries would manage to create awareness on these vital issues. Unless national policies keep women in focus, female farmers and farm workers cannot hope for better days ahead.