6. And statistics say....
Closing gender gap in agriculture could –
increase GDP by 9-16 %
reduce no. of hungry people by 12-17 %
increase yield by 20-30 %
6
(Source: FAO, 2014)
7. 84% women engaged in agriculture and allied
activities
Produce 80 % of food for developing countries and
half of the world’s
Women constitute about 50% world population
50% contribution in food production
30% of official labor hours
Without women, the world would go hungry!!!
7
(Source: UN Women, 2014)
8. Yet they
make up 70 % of the world’s poorest people
Constitute only 15% of the world’s agricultural
extension agent
Receive 10% of world’s income
Own 1% of world’s property
8
(Source: UN Women, 2014)
9. When it all started...
Early 1970s
Mid 1970s
Mid 1980s
1985
1980
1979
1975
‘Women’s Role in Economic Development’
by Esther Boserup
Women in Development (WID) approach
1st World Conference on Women, Mexico
Convention on Elimination of all forms of
Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)
adopted by UN General Assembly
2nd World Conference on Women, Copenhagen
Gender and Development (GAD) Framework
3rd World Conference on Women, Nairobi;
Harvard Analytical Framework 9
10. 1990
1993
1995
2000
2010
2011
2012
Longwe Women’s Empowerment Framework by
Sara H. Longwe
Moser Gender Planning Framework by Carol Moser
4th World Conference on Women, Beijing
MDGs identify Gender Equity as key objective
Gender in Agriculture Sourcebook by World Bank
FAO State of Food and Agriculture: Women in
Agriculture
1st Global Conference on Women in Agriculture,
New Delhi 10
12. 1. Food security
Women are key to food security in households
• Availability and use of time
• Hidden hunger
• Food availability
• Food utilization
12
13. 2. Strengthening governance
“Good governance is perhaps the single most important factor in
eradicating poverty and promoting development”
-Kofi Annan
Government effectiveness
Policy processes
Public sector reforms
Decentralization
13
14. 3. Rural finance
Financial sector
Rural finance
Agricultural finance
Microfinance
14
(Source: World Bank, 2010)
15. 4. Land policy
• Land rights – a critical resource
• Bargaining power
• Legal framework
– Hindu Succession Act, 2005
• Socio-cultural difficulties
15
16. 5. Agricultural markets
• Access to markets
• Capacity development
• Collective action and market linkages
“Feminization of poverty is the tragic consequence of women’s unequal
access to economic opportunities”
- UNDP
16
17. 6. Agricultural labour
Increased women’s LFP, productivity and
income
Increased income;
consumption
expenditure
Greater decision
making and
income control
Improved
children’s well
being
Current poverty
reduction and
economics growth Future poverty
reduction and
economic growth
Differential
savings
Better health
and education
Source: Morrison, Raju and Sinha (2007)17
18. 7. Rural infrastructure
• Transport
• Energy
• Information and Communication Technologies
• Sanitation, hygiene and potable water
18
19. 8. Natural Resource Management
• Biodiversity
• Natural disasters
• Land and water degradation
19
20. 9. Agricultural extension
Women addressed by
extension service
Enhances economic
productivity
Informed decision making
Reduced poverty and greater
food security
Better development outcomes
Women in extension
service
Better exposure of rural
women
Better utilization of women
workforce
Role model to rural girls
Increased job opportunities
20
23. 1. Political challenges
• Women’s Reservation Bill
• Status quo
• Under-representation
• India - 11% representation in parliament and 111th
among 189 countries
“In politics, you want something said, ask a man; you want
something done, ask a woman”
- Margaret Thatcher
23
24. 2. Policy andstrategy challenges
• Increased recruitment and retention
• Women targeted projects
• Capacity building
• Breaking the mould
24
25. 3. Practical challenges
“This is not a tidy world of tyrannical men and victimized
women, but a messier reality of oppressive social customs
adhered to by men and women alike.”
- (Dunn and Kristof, Unknown)
Discriminatory gender roles
“Education is necessary, but not sufficient, for
development” – Simister, 2011
Conflict of interest
25
27. • Gender sensitization
• “The power of 49”
“There is no chance of welfare of the world unless condition
of women is improved. It is not possible for a bird to fly only
with one wing”
– Swami Vivekananda
27
End notes
Missing women - today around 6 million women are missing every year in India and 32 million in the world due to sex-selective abortion, infanticide, unequal treatment in childhood
And in agricultural sector, they look after farm, home, livestock, work twice as men and after all that are considered to be in supporting role.
But the statistical data beg to differ here. Giving women the same opportunities as men would increase GDP by a fairly high margin and feed a large number of hungry people by increasing yield to 20-30 %.
A large majority of women are engaged in agricultural activity, they are practically feeding the developing countries and half of the world, engaged in farm majority of their working hours, constitute half of the world, has equal contribution in food production as men and work 30 % of the official labour hours. So I am sure I wont be politically incorrect if I say without women the world would go hungry.
And that’s why it is more unfortunate that women make the lion’s share of world’s poorest, constitute only 15 % of extension agents, receive 10 % of world’s income and own 1 % of world’s property.
And what better reason do we need for feminization of whole concept of development before we can talk about equality?
Now before going forward, lets first go back in time when gender issues first started getting importance in agriculture and rural development.
And here we are today. There are a large number of issues in gender in development. But I will discuss here only the major ones related to agriculture
So lets not forget the women at home, on farm who are working hard as we speak to feed us, keep us comfortable. In no other area of international development the gap between stated intensions and operational reality is as wide as in the promotion of equality between men and women and its is upon us to narrow down that gap, give women the credit and position they actually deserve.
And that’s all for my presentation today. Thank you.