It’s Time To Give Our Rural Women Their Due
October 15th is International Day of Rural Women. It is a day set aside to recognize the indispensable role and contributions of rural women, especially in the area of food security, poverty eradication, agricultural development and rural development in general.
In 2016, India’s Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare decided to take the lead in celebrating the event, duly recognizing the multidimensional role of women at every stage in agriculture — from sowing to planting, drainage, irrigation, fertilizer, plant protection, harvesting, weeding, and storage.
This year, the Ministry has proposed deliberations to discuss the challenges that women farmers face in crop cultivation, animal husbandry, dairying and fisheries. The aim is to work towards an action plan using better access to credit, skill development and entrepreneurial opportunities.
Yet, paying lip service to them is not going to alleviate their drudgery and hardships in the fields. According to Oxfam India, women are responsible for about 60–80% of food and 90% of dairy production, respectively. The work by women farmers, in crop cultivation, livestock management or at home, often goes unnoticed. Attempts by the government to impart them training in poultry, agriculture and rural handicrafts is trivial given their large numbers. In order to sustain women’s interest in farming and also their uplift, there must be a vision backed by an appropriate policy and doable action plans.
Discrimination against women are quite obvious in the rural areas. Rural women can only take orders from their husband, even when those orders are not in their favour.
Oppressive cultural practices: There are so many oppressive cultural and traditional practices in rural areas. Unfortunately, a good number of them are not favourable to women. For instance, with widow inheritance and oppression and domestic violence.
Poor farming equipment: Most of the food consumed in the society is produced by rural women. Unfortunately, these women have no access to mechanized farming equipment. They depend only on poor manual tools, which are energy consuming, with poor result. Female cultivators and labourers generally perform labour-intensive tasks (hoeing, grass cutting, weeding, picking, cotton stick collection, looking after livestock). An increased work burden with lower compensation is a key factor responsible for their marginalisation. It is important to have gender-friendly tools and machinery for various farm operations. Most farm machinery is difficult for women to operate. Manufacturers should be incentivised to come up with better solutions. Farm machinery banks and custom hiring centres promoted by many State governments can be roped in to provide subsidised rental services to women farmers.
Bad roads: Most of the roads leading to farmland and even in most parts of the rural areas are in bad shape. The major challenge facing women in rural areas is the means to transport farm produce from farmland to the nearest market places. As a result, most farm produce is abandoned in the farmland where it is destroyed.
Poor Storage system: Most of the food and even fruits that are produced by rural women are seasonal. Unfortunately, the system of storage is so poor that these poor women have no means of preserving their produce. They watch helplessly and hopelessly as their produce get spoiled due to poor storage system.
Poor power supply: Power supply remains a mirage in rural areas. Most rural dwellers have no access to stable power supply. That is one of the major reasons youths are trooping from rural areas, thereby leaving their poor parents in darkness and suffering.
The future
Delivering on the gender equality commitments of the 2030 Agenda stands or falls by the allocation of sufficient resources for their achievement and concerted action by governments and all stakeholders. Essential services on which millions of rural women and girls depend — health, education, childcare, shelters — are chronically underfunded or simply unavailable. Where they exist, they are often the first to be hit by austerity measures, which are once again on the rise. In 2018 alone, 124 countries are expected to be cutting their budgets, eroding social protection measures and essential services on which so many rural women and girls depend. This is not inevitable. In virtually all countries, there is scope for raising or reallocating resources to strengthen public services that are essential for women and girls. It is a matter of political will and of using all the available policy tools. The cost of inaction is simply too high.
Ketto & Women’s Empowerment/Gender Equality
Since its inception, Ketto has been a strong proponent of empowering women in India. Click on the links below to view crowdfunding projects it has been involved with for gender equality causes. If you feel inspired, you can start your own project with Ketto as well.
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