Role of farm women in transforming agriculture in India

Summary

Women farmers play a huge role in the agriculture sector of India. The farm women are engaged at all levels of agricultural value chain; i.e., production- pre-harvest, post-harvest processing, packaging, marketing to increase productivity in agriculture. Nearly 75% of the full-time workers on Indian farms are women who contribute about 60-80% of total food production in India. Women’s participation rate is as high as 70% in the livestock sector, about 47% in tea plantations and cotton cultivation; 45% in oilseeds production, and 39% in vegetable production. Backyard poultry farming run mainly by women contribute 20% to the chicken Industry. In coastal areas, women farmers play a great role in aquaculture. They perform all sorts of activities from catching fish to cleaning, drying, preserving, and even selling in markets. Despite their large presence and their contribution, women farmers face discrimination and marginalization. They are paid about 22% less than their male counterparts and have less access to inputs such as seeds, fertiliser, labour, and finance and critical services like training and insurance. As male workers are migrating to cities for better income and livelihoods, agriculture in India is going through the process of feminization. Farm women have to take up greater responsibility in managing their farms in addition to their existing traditional responsibilities of cooking, domestic chores, and child-rearing which is taking a toll on their physical and mental health. It’s high time, that the voices of these overworked and underpaid women in agriculture are heard and they get their fair share. Policies that focus on providing access to land, credit facilities, and inputs and strengthening these farm women through organizing them in FPOs and SHGs can prove to be effective in empowering agricultural women, who are crucial to the food security of India.

Introduction

Agriculture is considered as the backbone of the Indian rural economy and is a family enterprise. It is an important engine of growth and poverty reduction. India’s economic security is heavily dependent on agriculture. In terms of employment, it is the most important source of income, especially for rural women. According to 2011 World Bank Data only, 17.5 per cent of India’s gross domestic product (GDP) is accounted for by agricultural production. Based on 2012 data, India is home to the fourth largest Participation of Women in Agricultural Production sector in the world. Role of women in agricultural sector cannot be ignored as they consist of 33% agricultural labour force and 48% self-employed farmers. Rural woman farmer play an important role on the economic development of India because 73.2% of rural women workers are farmers. The woman in rural areas have multiple responsibilities like doing household chore, taking care of their children and also taking care of the land, that is owned by their husband, father, father-in-law or any male relatives, taking care of the livestock or poultry farm. In India, agricultural sector continues to employ and absorb female workforce but most of the times fails to give them the proper recognition of an employed or hired labour instead it is made a part of their household chores. Women make essential contributions to the agricultural and rural economies in all developing countries. Their roles vary considerably between and within regions and are changing rapidly in many parts of the world, where economic and social forces are transforming the agricultural sector. Women represent upwards of 40 per cent of the agricultural labour force globally and grow much of the food for their families and communities and yet they own less than 15 per cent of the land. Moreover, men’s migration from rural areas to cities has only increased women’s responsibilities on the farm and driven the feminization of agriculture in many countries. Yet, many women are still seen merely as labourers, with little decision-making power, rather than as independent farmers in need of support. Many women farmers cannot access productive resources–such as inputs, training, and finance–because they do not have secure, documented land rights. Without land, women have nothing to leverage as collateral for formal finance and are often excluded from government programs to support farmers, such as subsidized inputs and training. In many countries, few land rights are registered or recorded, and women’s land rights are the least secure. For example, women represent only 13.9 per cent of all recorded landholders in India despite making up 65 per cent of the agricultural workforce. Moreover, women farmers without land records are unable to access the more competitive loan rates offered to individual landowners and are excluded from leadership roles in farmer producer organizations. Development programs supporting farmers often fail to adequately benefit women by setting beneficiary targets without addressing their constraints, such as mobility, land ownership, and other household responsibilities.

It has an estimated 180 million hectares of farmland with 140 million of which are planted and continuously cultivated. The role of women in agriculture as female labour is not highlighted in India. Despite of their presence in activities sowing, transplanting and post-harvest operations they are considered as an invisible workers. Despite of various social, economic and various other constraints women have high-level participation in agriculture and they are very committed in their agricultural activity. Overall, the level of involvement of women in farm decision making was found very medium. The extent of involvement and decision making in activities like intercultural operations is 48%, in harvesting of crops 45%, storage of farm produce is 43%, in sale of farm produce and in subsidiary occupation like animal husbandry and dairy business is 39% and financial management is 36% only. Further despite of their extensive and active involvement in agriculture of India, they are not considered for decision making in farm activities. Women participation in agriculture will be acknowledged when women farmer will actively participate to build and improve their knowledge and gain access to new and necessary information to make use of most of them in their farming activities. The primary need of women working or seeking employment in various agricultural and non–agricultural activities is to meet the family needs and to enhance the family income.

Table 1. Distribution of women workers in India

Source: Registrar General of India, New Delhi, 2021

Farmwomen contribute to all sorts of activities including labour-intensive activities like hoeing, weeding, etc. They are even in charge of watering the crops. They also take part in a variety of other activities, including running the nurseries, applying fertilizer, shielding the crops from harsh weather, harvesting the grains, winnowing them to remove impurities, and storing them until they are eventually sold. These post-harvest operations are predominantly supervised by women. Livestock farming is another area where women play a great role. They are involved in gathering feed for the cattle and tend to sick animals in the event that they become ill. Women also prepare animal waste such as cow dung cakes, which are used as fuel to cook their food and even sold to generate extra revenue. Additionally, they produce milk-based products such as cheese, curd, and yogurts from milk by being involved in activities such as churning, fermenting, and blending. Backyard poultry farming is another area where women farmers have a significant contribution. Women successfully run backyard poultry farming, which contributes to around 20% of the chicken industry. Women also have a vital role in fisheries and aquaculture–as fishers, fish farmers, processors, and traders. In India, out of a population of 5.4 million active fishers, 3.8 million are fishermen and 1.6 million are fisherwomen. These fisherwomen are engaged in several fisheries vocations. The major activities, in which women’s contribution can be noticed throughout the country are fish processing and marketing. Many activities related to fish farming such as cleaning, drying, preserving, and selling activities are highly dependent on women fish farmers.

Challenges for Women in agriculture

Although rural women in farms and households in general play significant roles in food production, processing and feeding families, it must be mentioned that they perform these functions whilst facing numerous constraints and as such are hardly ever able to attain their full potential with respect to the substantial efforts they put into the agricultural sector.

1. Lack of Infrastructure

All attempts to develop agriculture would be useless if this problem is not solved. A large number of women farmers operate at the subsistence and smallholder level, and sadly, a disproportionate share of the agricultural production is left in their hands. With little or no access to modern improved technologies, there is a huge problem to secure them reasonable investments in capital, inputs and labour.

2. Access to Finance 

Poor access to financing is another major setback faced by women in agriculture. Credit is an extremely useful resource to farmers due to the fact that their production activities are most often seasonal in nature and a considerable lag occurs between the time they incur costs and the time that they are able to generate income from their produce. Several researchers have identified a number of reasons why women farmers are still not able to access credit easily, some of the most relevant ones include;

• Lack of collateral requirements
• High transaction cost
• Limited education and mobility
• Socio-cultural impediments
• Irregularity of employment
• The nature of women’s businesses limit their ability to obtain credit.

3. Access to Agricultural Inputs

Difficulty in accessing key agricultural inputs such as improved seedlings, fertilizers, pesticides, machinery, etc. is often as a direct result of the poor financial situation these women are faced with. Women farmers have indicated that they are unable to use improved inputs due to their high cost in the open market. Together, these factors place restrictions on access to input and output market information and have a negative impact on women’s productivity.

4. Gender Division of Labour in Agriculture

Gender division of labour in agriculture is a common practice that has often been viewed by several people as a limiting factor for most women. In most parts of India, there has always been a strict division of labour by gender in agriculture. The major reason for this categorization is that women are responsible for feeding the family and thus prefer to grow subsistence crops for household consumption. On the other hand, men in agriculture are breadwinners of their homes and as such are expected to grow cash and export crops that will generate higher income for the family.

Role of Women in Livestock and Fisheries Management

Women in livestock management

Within pastoralist and mixed farming systems, livestock play an important role in supporting women and in improving their financial situation and women are heavily engaged in the sector. An estimated two thirds of poor livestock keepers, totalling approximately 400 million people, are women. They share responsibility with men and children for the care of animals, and particular species and types of activity are more associated with women than men are. For example, women often have a prominent role in managing poultry and dairy animals and in caring for other animals that are housed and fed within the homestead. When tasks are divided, men are more likely to be involved in constructing housing and the herding of grazing animals, and in marketing products if women’s mobility is constrained. The influence of women is strong in the use of eggs, milk and poultry meat for home consumption and they often have control over marketing these products and the income derived from them. Perhaps for this reason, poultry and small-scale dairy projects have been popular investments for development projects that aim to improve the lot of rural women. Female-headed households are as successful as male-headed households in generating income from their animals, although they tend to own smaller numbers of animals, probably because of labour constraints.

Role of women in small-scale livestock production is well recognized and much less has been documented about women’s engagement in intensive production and the market chains associated with large commercial enterprises. Demand for livestock products, fuelled by rising incomes, has grown much faster than the demand for crop staples during the past 40 years and this trend is expected to continue. While pastoralist and small-scale mixed-farming systems continue to be important in meeting the needs of rural consumers, the demands of growing urban populations are increasingly supplied with meat, milk and eggs from intensive commercial systems. This has implications for the engagement of women in the livestock sector because of the different roles, responsibilities and access to resources that are evident within different scales of production system and at different points on the production and marketing chain.

The available evidence suggests that the role of women in meeting these changing demands may diminish, for two reasons. The first is that when livestock enterprises scale up, the control over decisions and income, and sometimes the entire enterprise, often shifts to men. The second important factor is that all smallholders face challenges when the livestock sector intensifies and concentrates and many go out of business. Given the more limited ability of women to start their own businesses, this implies that they will tend to become employees rather than self-employed. In specialized activities such as the production of day-old chicks, and in slaughtering, processing and retail, women are visible wherever painstaking semi-skilled work is to be done.

Women in fisheries and aquaculture

In 2008, nearly 45 million people worldwide were directly engaged, full time or part time, in the fishery primary sector. In addition, an estimated 135 million people are employed in the secondary sector, including postharvest activities. Studies reported that women may comprise up to 30% of the total employment in fisheries, including primary and secondary activities. Women have rarely engaged in commercial offshore and long-distance capture fisheries because of the vigorous work involved but also because of their domestic responsibilities and/or social norms. They are more commonly occupied in subsistence and commercial fishing from small boats and canoes in coastal or inland waters. Women also contribute as entrepreneurs and provide labour before, during and after the catch in both artisanal and commercial fisheries. Studies of women in aquaculture, especially in Asia where aquaculture has a long tradition, indicate that the contribution of women in labour is often greater than men’s, although macro-level sex-disaggregated data on this topic is almost non-existent. The most significant role played by women in both artisanal and industrial fisheries is at the processing and marketing stages, where they are very active in all regions.

Women in forestry

Women contribute to both the formal and informal forestry sectors in many significant ways. They play roles in agroforestry, watershed management, tree improvement, and forest protection and conservation. Forests also often represent an important source of employment for women, especially in rural areas. From nurseries to plantations, and from logging to wood processing, women make up a notable proportion of the labour force in forest industries throughout the world. However, although women contribute substantially to the forestry sector, their roles are not fully recognized and documented, their wages are not equal to those of men and their working conditions tend to be poor.

Women Empowerment through Agriculture

Women empowerment helps women to control and benefit from resources, assets, income and their own time, as well as the ability to manage risk and improve their economic status and well-being. Women in Agriculture play a vital role in wide range of activities, thereby contributing to sustainable agricultural development. To achieve inclusive agricultural growth, empowering women by having gender issues. Women play a critical and potentially transformative role in agricultural growth to developing countries, but they face persistent obstacles and economic constraints limiting further inclusion in agriculture. The women’s empowerment agency and inclusion of women in the agriculture sector in an effort to identify ways to overcome those obstacles and constrains. Agricultural being the traditional sector of India, Women’s role in this sector is significant. More than 80% of the economically active women are engaged in a wide variety of occupations especially in the unorganised sector. In the rural un-organized sector, women care for cattle, sowing, transplanting, harvesting etc. Today, 44% of the world’s food is produced by women who indicate how important their role is in farming. Rural women in general and farm women in particular are engaged in different activities. Despite their substantial contributions, women continue to be marginalized, undervalued and unorganized. It measures the roles and extent of women’s engagement in the agriculture sector in five domains. The issues involved in women’s empowerment gender equality emphasized the need for qualitative change and says that it could be achieved only with the enlightment and involvement of men. The grass root level democratic structures, which have triggered of a silent social revolution, can play an effective role in achieving the twin goods of female empowerment and male enlighten making gender equality a reality. Education can be effective tool for women’s empowerment. It enables farmwomen to acquire new knowledge and technology for improving and developing their tasks in all fields. Empowering women with property rights and with saving and investments facilities would contribute much more facilities to the household income.

Drudgery with Women in Agriculture

Drudgery in farm activities

Drudgery is generally conceived as physical and mental strain, agony, monotony and hardship experienced by human beings. However, women report more fatigue than men do.  Therefore, the plight of the Indian farmwoman in this regard is alarming as they work for long hours without leisure, perform multiple roles in family and continue to be constrained by illiteracy, malnutrition and unemployment.  This fatigue concerns mental and physical fatigue, sleepiness, feeling tired or emotional exhaustion. Almost all farmwomen suffer from physical drudgery in various operations.

Drudgery in Crop Production

Farmwomen perform hard physical work in plantation of crops, care and management, harvesting, threshing/ processing, marketing, bartering of produce, child bearing and rearing simultaneously. The farmwomen undergo hard physical drudgery especially while transplanting rice in mud with bending position, winnowing  for a long time in rains and scorching sun, harvesting by bending with traditional sickle, weeding by hand  in sun for a long time, rain and cold for a long hours, drying of produce, standing in scorching sun, winnowing in dust, collecting and bringing fodder, cleaning shed, parboiling of rice by traditional arduous methods with hard physical labour, milking / shelling, pounding, grinding of cereals, pulses by hand as well as hand operated chakki. (Table 2).

Table 2. Drudgery prone activities performed by farmwomen

 Drudgery in Animal Husbandry

Women perform multifarious Feeding animals tasks such as bathing and cleaning cattle , milking of cattle, fodder cutting, collecting and bringing fodder from the field and chaffing, collection of dung, preparation and storage of dung cakes, preparation, and  storage and marketing of dairying products. In addition, they also perform various unspecified and miscellaneous tasks related to home management such as collecting and carrying fuel over long distance, fetching water for cooking and drinking from distance place. Drudgery in farming operations is an important gender issue and efforts are under way by R&D and development agencies to develop and popularize such tools and equipment among farming community. However, studies indicate that certain gaps exist in the adoption of drudgery reducing technologies. As a whole farmwomen undergo drudgery and health hazards while carrying out these farm and household activities, which affects their work efficiency and physical wellbeing.

Role of KVK in Empowerment of Women

Empowerment is a process where women become able to organize themselves to increase self-reliance to assert their independent right to make choice and to control resources, which will assist in challenging and eliminating their own subordination. It is the process by which individuals, organizations and communities gain control and mastery over social and economic conditions. In a predominantly agrarian country like ours, nearly 75% of economically effective women are engaged in agriculture in comparison with 63% of their male counterparts. Almost 50% of rural female workers are agricultural labourers and 37% cultivators. At the same time, around 70% of total farm work is performed by women only. The Krishi Vigyan Kendras have got clear cut mandates for upgradation of farmwomen in term of capacity building through training, demonstrated campaign and sensitization programme. While child nutrition and mother care have become the prime issues to the nation, the KVK are organizing different vocational training for the women. Some of the trainings are specially designed for the women so that they can earn and sustain their family through remunerative enterprise like vermicomposting, kitchen gardening, tailoring, fabric, preservation of fruits and vegetable/nursery, floriculture, pisiculture ornamental fish etc.

KVKs generally deal with training programme related to needy areas to be served to both for men and women. The types of courses covered may be for package and practices of various field crops, vegetable crops, oil seed crops, plant protection, farm planning, care and feeding of animals, poultry keeping, irrigation and water management, marketing of agricultural product etc. To impart training efficiently, KVKs are arranged more specialized persons. Some progressive farmers may be used as practical teachers. The help of agricultural universities, reputed NGOs, various agro-based industries and other state Govt. agencies are invited. As earlier explained KVK programmes will be problem oriented and field oriented with follow-up measures. “Learning by doing” the motto of KVK is always kept in mind while giving training. It gives direct bearing on our agricultural productivity. The training programmes further intend to cover backward areas, weaker sections and tribes, hill farmers on priority basis. Early adopters are always given priority, as they are the influential group in the rural environment. Courses in the Krishi Vigyan Kendra are tailored to the needs of the areas served and are for both men and women.