The questions asked are all encompassing, and I would like to just focus on one aspect and its relation with mechanisation - Why is it so challenging to convince the private sector to engage with rural women as economic actors, despite the evidence demonstrating that this generates profitable outcomes? I have some limited experience that I would like to share.
In India, we do find large companies engaged in developing farm equipments that are used across India in larger and larger numbers. Indeed - India is the largest market for tractors. Additionally to promote such mechanisation, the government has been very helpful in providing subsidies to the farmers so that equipment usage increases. The issue is that such equipments have in majority of cases, led to removal of employment opportunities for women from the farms. Additionally, as manufacturing large equipments require large capital and buying them also requires high capital, this tends to be a network managed by men.
Since the margins are higher - for the large private sector, it becomes easy to set up distribution chains comprising of distributors and retailers. This margin also helps them engage with Agriculture University experts, make and test several prototypes before finalising a design, getting it passed through accrediting institutions and then manufacturing. The holy gravy trail is to get the equipment passed through the government subsidy providing system, which although takes a lot of engagement - ensures that the equipment are bought in hundreds and thousands. Advertisements of moustache wielding strong men promoting such equipment acts as marketing cues and does the rest!
The large private sector does not engage with women because they feel that women have poor purchasing capacity. They feel women need small sized and user-friendly machines, and these do not have much margins attached to them for the private sector to feel that they can invest in their design, manufacturing, accreditation and distribution and make a tidy profit. Local small time fabricators (such as welders and mechanics) who can play a stellar role here, are not trained enough nor receive training to design and fabricate such machines.
However in instances (one in which I was involved) where the technique has been transferred to local fabricators who are not far from where the potential impact population resides, and have invested a small amount of capital - the results have been good. The machines are sold at a cheaper cost, women Self Help Groups have purchased them, used them, and gone back to demand repairs. In such cases, women have been very vocal of the benefits of the machine and the news has spread, creating its own demand.
This is a work of labour and love, and I feel that only a women focus can make it successful. It needs patience and commitment and months of convincing the fabricators and the women that they can create a local ecosystem of demand and supply. I am not sure if private sector, with their focus on the bottom line is interested to work in this, and take peanuts as profits.
Mr. Aanand Kumar