Women co
nstitute half of Bangladesh’s 160 million human resources. About two-thirds (53 million) of them live in rural areas and eke out livelihoods from agriculture. More than half of the country’s agricultural labor force are women. They are involved in all agricultural activities, although the most common activities are postharvest operations, homestead production and livestock and poultry raising.
With growing rural outmigration, women’s role in agriculture is increasing. They contribute significantly to rural economy, and their empowerment is crucial to minimizing poverty and hunger.
Compared to men, women farmers face many obstacles. Empowering women farmers requires an understanding of their constraints and implementing targeted interventions for addressing these restrictions. These include land ownership and rights, access to improved varieties and technologies, extension and credit services, inputs such as seeds and fertilizers, farm machines and mechanization services, and knowledge and information. They also have limited decision-making power and participation in economic opportunities. These obstacles not only limit their productivity but also prevent women from achieving their full potential. As a result, women suffer more from poverty, food insecurity and malnutrition.
Overcoming these obstacles, will provide alternatives to improve their livelihoods. Studies have shown that, compared to men, women are more likely to spend their income providing better nutrition, education and health for their families.
The SIIL-Polder project in Bangladesh emphasizes gender equality and women empowerment by reducing their workloads, raising agricultural productivity, increasing economic opportunities and ensuring control over resources. These objectives could be achieved through many approaches, such as identifying women farmers’ constraints and viable options for interventions; implementing interventions to enhance women farmers’ access to technologies and services; training women on improved crop production, processing, and marketing skills; and establishing and nurturing women farmers’ production and marketing groups.
Through a community approach, women farmers can buy high-quality seeds and inputs at lower prices. Collective production, processing and marketing will enable them to receive higher profit for their produce because they will increase their access to different markets, reduce their transaction cost and increase their bargaining power.
The project will leverage women’s groups to educate rural women on improved farming and nutritious diets. Besides, the robust evidence generated by the project will help design women-inclusive programs and policies. By earning income, women will gain decision-making power and economic autonomy in the family, which will empower them. When women are empowered, their families, children, the next generation and their communities are empowered too.
By: Humanth Bhandari, Anna Minj, Tahmina Begum, and Parul Sarker
-Dr. Bhandari is an IRRI socioeconomist. Dr. Minj is the director of BRAC’s Community Empowerment Program. Dr. Begum is the deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension in Bangladesh. Dr. Sarker is SIIL regional coordinator.
This article was reproduced from Polder Tidings, vol.1, no. 1, May 2016.
Link: http://books.irri.org/serials/polder-tidings/201605v01n01.pdf
