Panel discussion on
WOMEN IN AGRICULTURE:
Challenges and way ahead

India International Centre (ANNEXE, LECTURE ROOM 1)
Lodhi Road, New Delhi

10 July 2019
10.00 am-1 pm

Organised By:-
Economic Research Foundation (ERF) and Focus on the Global South

Speakers:-
Jayati Ghosh (Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University)
Jagmati Sangwan (Former General Secretary, All India Women’s Democratic Association (AIDWA)
Jaya Mehta (Joshi Adhikari Institute of Social Studies)
Dipa Sinha (Assistant Professor, Ambedkar University of Delhi (AUD)
Namita Waikar (Managing Editor, People’s Archive of Rural India (PARI)
Vikas Rawal (Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University)

Click here for a glimpse of the Discussion

Background Note

India is currently faced with an acute agricultural crisis, the causes of which can be traced back, at least in part, to the neo-liberal reforms initiated in the 1990s. In the last two years there has been an intensification of protests by farmers groups across the country, of which, a significant emerging trend has been the participation of a large number of women farmers, women agricultural labourers and farm widows. In November 2018, around one lakh farmers marched to the Parliament with a comprehensive list of demands, among which farm-loan waivers for all and implementation of Minimum Support Price (MSP) for all crops were the most publicised. In addition, there were specific demands raised by several thousand women farmers who marched for land rights and recognition as farmers. The increasing involvement of women in farmer marches is not surprising, as women have always played a crucial role in agriculture, even when it is not recognised or recorded. Their work has been significant in transplanting, harvesting, post-harvest processing and taking the final produce to the market. However, the specific concerns of women farmers and women engaged as agricultural labour have largely remained invisible in both the policy discourse and public perception.

Agriculture accounts for the majority of women who are recognised as employed in India – as farmers, unpaid helpers on family farms or agricultural labourers. For the women who work on their own or tenanted farms, the absence of land rights implies that they do not get access to institutional credit, extension services, crop-loss compensation, input subsidies, irrigation services and other farm-related benefits, and this they face substantially worse conditions than men farmers in otherwise similar situations. In general, women agricultural labourers often do not get paid the same as men, even for equal amount of work. In addition, even those engaged in recognised employment are forced to do a significant amount of unpaid work, not only care work within households, but fetching fuelwood and water. Women in rural India also face other deprivations, for example in nutrition and food security, access to health, and so on.

Some states have tried to address the problem of landownership by amending land-legislations and implementing reforms such as lower interest rates and lower land registration fees for women. Some states have sought to recognise all farmers (including those without formal titles), which would benefit women farmers. The draft National Land Reform Policy (2013) also recognised the need to grant land ownership rights to rural women and redistribute land to all landless poor. Women farmers have formed cooperatives and have engaged in sustainable agriculture in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Gujarat, Punjab and Kerala. For example, Kerala’s Kudumbashree Mission initiated in 1998 is widely hailed as a success story in empowering women. The Kudumbashree women’s collective farming initiative has enabled the cultivation of thousands of hectares of fallow land leading to enhanced food security and livelihoods. Are these schemes replicable in other states and how can they be further improved?

This panel discussion is being organised to reflect and discuss on these various issues confronting women in agriculture. Participants will include academicians, representatives of peasant groups, women’s organisations, researchers, journalists and students.