Rights of women farmers were elaborated through perspective of agriculture, gender and policy in the session “Securing Rights of Women “farmers”. Prof. Varsha Ganguly chaired the session and where she tried to understand what kind of data that is required to address and enhance the policy issues related to land rights of women through examining the National Policy for farmers in India.
Missing Women farmers
Every woman who is working is a farmer. Every woman engaged in different activities like gardening, poultry, sharecropping, tenancy underlined Ganguly. But they are still not seen as cultivators, decision makers and livelihood generators. Land reform in India did not address gender issues, patriarchic system remains the same, felt Soma Parthasarthy.
Pastoral women lost traditional skillset
Pastoral women are the reservoirs of knowledge and traditional sources in pastoral communities. Women were masters in rearing the livestock, dairying the milk and milk products and managing the trade business with the villagers and within themselves. As development occurred and common land were encroached by the residing communities, pastoralists now have to buy grass to feed livestock. The establishment of cooperatives have been challenge to women members as control of dairy trade went to men members.
It is work pressure and not decreasing participation in overall production by women
Women have always been treated as agricultural labours and not the cultivators’ owners. Titles becomes the means to access any kind of services and women lose these services as they are not owners in most of the cases. It is work pressure and not the decreasing work participation rate in production. Women have to deal with food, forest, fuel and fodder that their contribution is invisible. The relation between land owner, producer and head of household is such that all the govt. schemes is tilted towards head of the household. It is need to recognise the producer other than head of household. If producers are recognised, women members will get recognised automatically.
Women are equally concerned about nutrition, food security as well as organic linkages to fishery, poultry farming.
@Varsha_Ganguly
Very little reference has been given to agricultural woman in the budget this year, just in chulhas and in SHGs a small mention about women has been made. How will we count how many women are there in agriculture?
@Soma_Parthsarthy
