Feminization Of Agriculture
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feminist economics Feminist economics is the critical study of economics and economies, with a focus on gender-aware and inclusive economic inquiry and policy analysis. Feminist economic researchers include academics, activists, policy theorists, and practitio ...
, the feminization of agriculture refers to the measurable increase of women's participation in the
agricultural sector Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created f ...
, particularly in the
developing world A developing country is a sovereign state with a less-developed industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to developed countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. There is also no clear agreeme ...
.Deere, 2009 p. 99 The phenomenon started during the 1960s with increasing shares over time. In the 1990s, during
liberalization Liberalization or liberalisation (British English) is a broad term that refers to the practice of making laws, systems, or opinions less severe, usually in the sense of eliminating certain government regulations or restrictions. The term is used ...
, the phenomenon became more pronounced and negative effects appeared in the rural female population. Afterwards, agricultural markets became gendered institutions, affecting men and women differently. In 2009
World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...
,
FAO The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; . (FAO) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition ...
&
IFAD The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is an international financial institution and a specialised agency of the United Nations that works to address poverty and hunger in rural areas of developing countries. It is the only ...
found that over 80 per cent of rural
smallholder A smallholding or smallholder is a small farm operating under a small-scale agriculture model. Definitions vary widely for what constitutes a smallholder or small-scale farm, including factors such as size, food production technique or technolo ...
farmers worldwide were women, this was caused by men migrating to find work in other sectors. Out of all the women in the labor sector, the UN found 45-80% of them to be working in agriculture The term has also been applied to other phenomena, including increasing shares of women in the agricultural workforce, male outmigration from rural areas, decreasing women's opportunities in agricultural productivity, and lower rural pay due to skill exclusions.Whitehead, 2009 p.45 Activists have argued that the trend is dangerous and leads to
food insecurity Food security is the state of having reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, healthy food. The availability of food for people of any class, gender, ethnicity, or religion is another element of food protection. Similarly, househo ...
.ActionAid 2010


Background

Women's role in the
agricultural sector Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created f ...
increased during the 1960s and has continued to grow. Women have been increasingly counted as heads of household, running their own farms without male assistance. These households are often poorer than their male counterparts. Their plot sizes are usually smaller and have less access to other productive resources, like education, tools, and seeds, something termed “investment poverty”. Women agricultural workers are also less likely to have social connections, like credit and market networks. In the rural environments there are two types of crop orientations,
subsistence A subsistence economy is an economy directed to basic subsistence (the provision of food, clothing and shelter) rather than to the market. Definition "Subsistence" is understood as supporting oneself and family at a minimum level. Basic subsiste ...
and export. Female-headed households are more likely to be subsistence-orientated, which are often poorer. Export farmers are more likely to have substantial land endowments and to be male-headed. After structural adjustments, export farmers became more vulnerable to price shocks, and women within this category more so. Female-headed households also became more likely to change from high-value export crops to subsistence. Women running their own farms is a historically new trend, as men have traditionally done the heavy farm work. The use of the
plow A plough or (Differences between American and British spellings, US) plow (both pronounced ) is a farm tool for loosening or turning the soil before sowing seed or planting. Ploughs were traditionally drawn by oxen and horses but modern ploughs ...
has typically only involved men, and in many regions, men still dominate. Typically, reliance on the plow has been associated with male-dominated farming, which leads to crop inefficiencies if they leave.


Diversification

These policies taxed the then-profitable agricultural sector while raising tariffs on imports. The revenue was used to support urban
government-sponsored enterprise A government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) is a type of financial services corporation created by the United States Congress. Their intended function is to enhance the flow of Credit (finance), credit to targeted sectors of the economy, to make tho ...
s. This created higher-paying jobs in the city, which, in combination with high taxes on agriculture, started drawing men towards cities. This early migration period was the first attempt to diversify income, mainly in-country. Women remained behind to farm alone and do wage work locally. With male migration, the amount of labor dedicated to farming fell, as women retained child care responsibilities. This trend continued during liberalization, when taxes (and subsidies) for agriculture were removed, causing declines in agricultural incomes. These same structural adjustments removed support for the industries that held many jobs in the city, which further depressed incomes.


Discrimination

Social norms affect how men and women approach and are rewarded from the market. Men are seen as the bread-winners and thus are expected to be paid more and work year-round. Women are seen as secondary laborers, and thus tend to work in seasonal or otherwise temporary jobs. These positions are low wage and low skill. Women are not expected, nor encouraged to compete for higher wages or said jobs. Women who attempt to bargain for higher wages are seen as “distressed”, and viewed negatively. Export oriented agro-business perpetuates these stereotypes. Often women work seasonal jobs and aren't considered for permanent positions. These low-skill entry-level jobs have low wages with no raises. Sometimes these positions require literacy and women wouldn't be eligible, as rates of education and literacy are higher in men than in women.


Food insecurity

The feminization of agriculture has been associated with food insecurity through poverty and limited crop yields. Structural adjustment of the 1990s abolished fertilizer and seed subsidies to rural farmers. This has decreased crop growing potential and profitability. With some household's being on the brink of food-insecurity. In an attempt to compensate for lack of fertilizer, some have switched to lower quality crops. Measurable effects on rural mortality rates have started to become apparent.Whitehead, 2009 p.39


Theoretical causes


Economic liberalization

Liberalization critics argue the phenomenon is a result of failed liberalization policies. During the 1980s there was a shift away from the Import substitution policies towards
economic liberalization Economic liberalization, or economic liberalisation, is the lessening of government regulations and restrictions in an economy in exchange for greater participation by private entities. In politics, the doctrine is associated with classical liber ...
. The aim was to cut the government deficits and increase revenue through export led growth. It was believed that free markets would encourage growth through privatization. Reductions of the budget deficits often required
Austerity In economic policy, austerity is a set of Political economy, political-economic policies that aim to reduce government budget deficits through Government spending, spending cuts, tax increases, or a combination of both. There are three prim ...
. Included in these policies was the disassembly of state entities, social support mechanisms, and various subsidies. The reduction of tariffs led to instability of farm income, due to market swings. Farmers have begun to grow more conservative crops and rely on wage labor, rather than farm income. When social subsidies on education and health were removed, women became responsible for supplementing the increased cost. This required an increase in their income, which led to diversification, and thus male out-migration. Women then remain on the farm, with the remainder of the family. In both Africa and Latin America male migration has been associated with feminization of the rural agricultural economy. Liberalization also removed governmental institutions beneficial to farmers. Before liberalization there existed public credit facilities, as well as input assistance (fertilizer and seeds etc.), and marketing. In the period after liberalization, these institutions were never replaced by private mechanisms. Smaller farmers who once benefited from these, now have reduced productivity. These reductions, have negatively affected rural populations.


Other causes

In Africa, regional issues affect the male rural population. The prevalence of disease (mainly HIV/AIDS) and warfare have reduced male populations. These effects can combine migration leading to substantial differences in gender. In the Congo there are as many as 170 women working for every 100 men in agriculture.


Criticism

The most common criticism is the lack of available data. A prominent concern is how to interpret the available data. The increase in women's participation in agriculture can be interpreted several ways. One is that more women are working in agriculture than were previously. The second is that men are working less, and women have remained are constant, and thus the share of women is rising. A third possibility is that neither have changed and that recent data have only begun to capture the women already working in agriculture. Determining causation has also been controversial. Without better data it is difficult to differentiate the regional trends from the universal. The developing world is broad and poorly understood. It is likely that a trend affecting one region will not apply to another.


Activism


Organizations

Several organizations have become concerned with the detrimental effects, and have sponsored projects. The
Food and Agriculture Organization The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; . (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition and food security. Its Latin motto, , translates ...
of the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
works to improve food security. They stress increasing access to many necessary inputs to productive agriculture, including credit, education and training, and land. They also promote the development of rural female farmers organizations. There has also been a move towards updating the legal codes of countries to give women the legal rights of property ownership and credit, which can allow for increased food security.
ActionAid ActionAid is an international non-governmental organization whose stated primary aim is to work against poverty and injustice worldwide. ActionAid is a federation of 45 country offices that works with communities, often via local partner organi ...
is also involved in activism towards the alleviation of poverty. Two of their main purposes is to argue for gender equality and women's rights. They are involved in adult literacy and other education projects. They argue for a gender approach to agricultural development. In 2008, the HungerFree Women project was created to address the issues facing
rural women Rural women play a fundamental role in rural communities around the world providing care and being involved in number of economic pursuits such as subsistence farming, petty trading and off-farm work. In most parts of the world, rural women work v ...
. The project was designed to enhance give media visibility to rural women, address discriminatory laws, prioritize women's rights and organize rural women.


Policies

With women as a large portion of agriculture workers, they are often denied power to make decisions about resources and access they have to land. Advocates have argued for policy change to address concerns. Actionaid argues for increasing funding to the agricultural sector for rural development. The
World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...
argued that development policy should increase access to the agricultural resources that men have (e.g. land, credit facilities, health care).Cornheil 2008 http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2007/11/08/000310607_20071108143621/Rendered/PDF/41367optmzd0Fe1Agriculture01PUBLIC1.pdf


See also

*
Feminist economics Feminist economics is the critical study of economics and economies, with a focus on gender-aware and inclusive economic inquiry and policy analysis. Feminist economic researchers include academics, activists, policy theorists, and practitio ...
*
Feminization of poverty Feminization of poverty refers to a trend of increasing economic inequality, inequality in living standards between men and women due to the widening gender pay gap, gender gap in poverty. This phenomenon largely links to how women and children ar ...
*
Feminization of migration Women migrant workers from developing countries engage in paid employment in countries where they are not citizens. While women have traditionally been considered companions to their husbands in the migratory process, most adult migrant women today ...
*
Women and the environment through history In the early 1960s, an interest in women and their connection with the environment was sparked largely by Ester Boserup's book ''Woman's Role in Economic Development''. Starting in the 1980s, policy makers and governments became more mindful of th ...
*
Women in agriculture in Afghanistan Women's roles in agriculture in Afghanistan have been shaped by the culture of Afghanistan, cultural landscape of the country. Women comprise nearly half of the farming and agricultural workforce in Afghanistan. In recent years, women have been con ...
*
Women in agriculture in India India has an economy bound to its historical agricultural tradition. In the North, the Indus valley and Brahmaputra region are critical agricultural areas with water supplied by the Ganges and monsoon season. Agriculture is a way of life for the ...
*
Women in agriculture in Japan Women have always been active in agriculture in Japan. Women farmers have, throughout Japan's history, outnumbered male farmers. Traditionally, women farmers in Japan did farm work and cared for other members of the family. Some held part-time jo ...
*
Women in agriculture in the United Kingdom Women were historically rarely farm owners in agriculture in the United Kingdom, but the number who own or lease farms is rising rapidly in the 21st century; by 2013 there were 25,000. A 2014 survey by ''Farmers Weekly'' showed that 59% of women ...


References

{{Reflist


Sources

* Boserup, Ester (1970.) PP 15–65 Woman's Role in Economic Development. ''Male and female farming systems.'' London: Earthscan. * Deere, Carmen Diana (2009.) PP 99–127 The Gendered Impacts of Liberalization. ''The Feminization of Agriculture?: The Impact of Economic Restructuring in Rural Latin America.'' United Nations Institute for Social Development. * Razavi, Shahra (2009.) PP 1–34 The Gendered Impacts of Liberalization. ''The Gendered Impacts of Liberalization: Towards "Embedded Liberalism?".'' United Nations Institute for Social Development. * Reardon, T. and S.A. Vosti (1995). “Links between rural poverty and the environment in developing countries: Asset categories and investment poverty.” World Development, Vol. 23(9) pp 1495–1506. * Whitehead, Ann (2009.) PP 37–62 The Gendered Impacts of Liberalization. ''The Gendered Impacts of Liberalization Policies on African Agricultural Economies and Rural Livelihoods.'' United Nations Institute for Social Development.


External links


ActionAid Official Website

Female Face of Farming
infographic
The feminisation of agriculture in Odia language
Agriculture Feminist economics