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Role of women in agriculture


Role of women in agriculture

Rural women play an essential role in agriculture. Although only 25.4% of women in the country are classified as employed, many more are active in unpaid work in the informal sector and agriculture. In addition, women perform tasks that are vital to food provision and the maintenance of the household. Women are involved in all phases of the agricultural cycle, including planting, weeding, the protection and maintenance of fields, and harvesting, conservation, storage, processing and marketing of produce. Women play an important role in market gardening and in the processing of milk products. In the fishery sector, women play an important role in the processing and marketing of fish and fish products.

Division of Labour by Gender. Women's participation in nearly all aspects of agricultural and livestock activities is significant. Men are largely responsible for land clearing and for the cultivation of certain crops, such as wetland rice. Men also take care of the herding and watering of large animals, while the curing of skins, the processing of milk products, and the care of small ruminants and poultry is the task of women. In addition, women are responsible for household tasks, including food processing and preparation, water fetching and wood collection. Women are also the practitioners of traditional medicine.

According to the 1988 census, 35% of households are headed by women. The increasing migration of males to the cities has resulted in heavier work loads for women.

Although women in certain regions were traditionally responsible for rice cultivation, wetland rice cultivation is now largely the province of men, with women engaged mainly in irrigation, storage and marketing.

In some regions, both men and women are engaged in the construction of small dams.

Gender Relations in Decision-making in Farming Activities. Men of the extended families invariably make the major decisions on land transfer and agricultural investments. Although women generally do not own land or livestock, they usually make decisions on those aspects of the work for which they are responsible and on the income derived from their activities.

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