Women in developing agriculture. In: The state of food and agriculture 1983
Anonymous
FAO Agriculture Series 16: 107-159
1984
Document Number: 216756
The chapter is intended to call attention to the problems, contributions and potentials of women in agriculture. Its findings are: women in traditional agrarian settings contribute more to food production and family earnings in skilled labour and entrepreneurship than is generally known or accepted, often in female work groups rather than as family members. In many rural places, migration of men and other changes in farming systems are placing even greater burdens on women as mainstays of small-scale agriculture, the farm labour force and day-to-day family subsistence. Some 18% of the households in the developing world are headed by women; in some countries the figure is as high as 40%. Women in agriculture generally have not received equitable opportunities, rewards or decision making privileges. Typically they have encountered more difficulty than men in gaining access to land, credit, technical services and commercial market outlets. This limits food production and family income. New ways to provide assistance to women directly as well as through families are therefore needed. Rural women are not sufficiently involved in the planning and implementation of development. Even where women's groups are active in production, where women's production responsibilities differ sharply from men's, and where there are many female-headed households, officials and specialists often assume that consultation with women is not required. Negative effects on women, families and production targets have followed from the fact that the designers of agricultural projects have not taken adequate account of women's responsibilities, participation, well being, priorities or capacities. These effects should be recognized and avoided. Better information about women's situations and their multiple roles, as well as the increased involvement of women in development planning and monitoring, is needed. This would help agricultural policies, programmes and projects achieve greater agricultural productivity and national food self reliance while also supporting socioeconomic goals. The feature also lists FAO publications on women, and provides a comprehensive bibliography.