Women represent 49% of the farmers in the irrigated sector and 57% in the rainfed traditional sector. Women in the rainfed sector are primarily subsistence farmers but they also work as seasonal wage labourers in the rainfed mechanized sector, and as hired or unpaid family labourers in the irrigated sector. Although women play a crucial role in agriculture, contributing to both the GDP and to household food security, their contribution to agriculture and the overall economic development process continues to be undervalued.
Division of Labour by Gender. Women carry out a major portion of agricultural activities and bear almost the entire burden of household work, including water and fuelwood collection and food processing and preparation. According to a Ministry of Agriculture baseline survey of the rainfed traditional sector in 1989, both men and women participate in land clearance and in the preparation, harvesting, transporting and marketing of crops, while women carry out most of the planting, weeding and food processing. In the livestock sector, men have the primary responsibility for cattle and sheep raising, while women participate in milking and processing milk products. Both men and women are involved in raising goats and poultry. In fisheries, women participate in processing and marketing. In the agro-forestry sector, women participate in all aspects of the work and have the major responsibility for seedling preparation and weeding. Men and women are sometimes responsible for different types of trees.
Gender Relations in Decision-making in Farming Activities. Data from a participatory rural appraisal (PRA) of irrigated areas indicates that at the household level, women are responsible for a wide range of decision making in farming activities, even when the husband is present.
