The role of women in crop, livestock, fisheries and agroforestry
An analysis of the data provided by the country papers clearly demonstrates that women spend long hours daily performing numerous time-consuming and labour-intensive work in all aspects of agricultural production. This is in addition to their regular responsibilities within the household dwelling itself, such as child bearing and rearing, housekeeping, cleaning, cooking, baking and fetching water and fuel for domestic use. Indeed, available time-use data indicates that women in Cyprus, Jordan, Morocco, Lebanon and Yemen, for example, may work anywhere from 11-16 hours every day on agricultural and household tasks. These heavy workloads leave very little time for rest, leisure, or the pursuit of activities other than work.
The extent to which rural women are involved in agricultural production is a function of numerous interlinked factors. These include the type of farming system, the degree of mechanization used on the farm, farm size, available male labour, and a woman's social and economic status within the household as well as within society.
It has been observed that women are less likely to be involved in more mechanized and capital-intensive farms geared to market-oriented production. Also, women from landless families and/or small landholdings perform more tasks and work for longer hours than those from large landholdings and rich rural households. Poor women are more likely to seek off farm employment or employment on other farms, as hired temporary or permanent labour. Moreover, they are more liable to work in agriculture in regions and countries where there is heavy male-outmigration to urban areas and abroad. Thus, in countries like Egypt, Yemen, Turkey and Syria, where large numbers of men seek off-farm employment, women and children are left behind to do the bulk of the agricultural work. In addition, at what stage a woman is in her life cycle determines her status in the household and consequently her contribution to family or hired agricultural work. In general, it is the young, unmarried women who do the bulk of female work in the Near East region.
As paid or unpaid labour, women are heavily involved in subsistence crop production, and a few activities related to cash crop production. Although there are no clear-cut "women's" crops as might exist in some countries of the world, a gender division of labour is observed in the farming systems of the region based on the nature of the agricultural enterprise itself, and on the operations used in the production process. Consequently, men are involved in capital-intensive mechanized crops and operations (mechanical land preparation, irrigation, spraying, mechanical harvesting, tractor-driving, etc.), while women are responsible for the more labor-intensive work that requires painstaking physical effort, patience and perseverance. Thus, women use their hands or simple tools to broadcast seeds and fertilizers, hand weed and harvest, pick fruits and vegetables manually, and carry produce on their backs. They likewise spend many long hours in post-harvest activities such as threshing, winnowing, cleaning, sorting, grading and bagging. With some exceptions notwithstanding, women in the region participate very little in land preparation, transportation and marketing of agricultural produce.
Despite the above gender division of labour, it is also common for women and men to work side-by-side together in the field, and assist one another in various crop, livestock and other tasks when the need arises, especially during peak season. Annex I provides more detailed information on women's roles in crop production in selected countries of the region.
Livestock production is an important and integral component of farming systems in the Near East region. In nomadic and semi-nomadic societies, livestock rearing is the main production activity and the source of most, if not all, economic output. Livestock also contributes a large proportion of the income of farmers with small-landholdings, which are by far the most common type of farms in the region.3
3 Farms constituting 10 hectares or less occupy 25% of total arable land in West Asia and North Africa. Conversely, large farms of 50 hectares or more occupy 15 to 45% of the total arable land, but constitute only a small percentage of the total number of farms (Belaid and Morris, 1991).
Women's work in animal husbandry is significant. In general, women are more involved in livestock production - especially small ruminants - than in crop production. According to the data provided in the country papers and other studies, women are heavily involved in almost all aspects of livestock production, with the exception of herding and marketing, since these tasks require absence from the home. Activities that women are reported to be active in are feeding and watering, fodder gathering, poultry and rabbit care, stable cleaning, collecting dung for fertilizer and fuel, care of sick, pregnant and lactating animals, milking, ghee/cheese and butter-making, in addition to breeding and selection.
Cash income obtained from women's work in livestock production may be quite high, especially with regard to the sale of milk, cheese, butter and ghee. Equally notable is the nutritional value and protein contributions of these dairy products to the farm household diet.
In countries where pastoral communities rely predominantly on livestock production as their main economic activity, such as in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Pakistan, Somalia and Sudan, women contribute substantially to livestock rearing (primarily sheep, goats, camels and cattle). Pastoral women's responsibilities are mainly centred on milking and watering, as well as on transforming animal products such as wool and hide, into clothes, rugs and tents. It is worth mentioning that the role of women in pastoral societies is becoming increasingly difficult in light of rapid pasture degradation.
Perhaps the only agricultural enterprise that is completely a woman's domain and involves little or no interference from the male members of the family is poultry raising. Although this activity is usually a small-scale home-based occupation, women are nevertheless responsible for the selling of poultry products, and are often the sole decision makers regarding the disposal of income derived from this endeavour. Annex II provides more detailed information about women's roles in livestock production in selected countries of the Near East region.
Compared to crop and livestock production, fisheries and agroforestry are not major sources of employment in the Near East region. The proportion of total land area grown to forests is less than 19% in most countries, with the exception of Turkey where 26% is grown to forests, and approximately 6% of the rural population is engaged in fisheries production. Nevertheless, data from the country papers indicates that these sub-sectors are generally male-dominated, and that women play very limited roles in fisheries and agroforestry. In fisheries, some women may be involved in net-making and net maintenance and repair (Egypt, Yemen, Cyprus and Turkey), while women in Egypt, Sudan and Cyprus are engaged in some marketing of fish and fish products. In Morocco, Egypt and Turkey, women are involved to a limited extent in processing fish, while in Mauritania, women process fish for food and medical purposes, as well as assist men in dam and dike building in the Assaba region. A very small number of women in Egypt participate in fish catching and feeding.
Women's participation in agroforestry is also limited in the region, with the exception of the Sudan, where women are solely responsible for agroforestry, except for the acacia syal tree, where labour is shared with men. In the Islamic Republic of Iran, women are involved in some production and transplanting of seedlings.
As indicated earlier, rural women spend many hours every day throughout the year working inside and outside the household as family and/or hired labour, with very little time left for rest or recreation. Although there have been improvements in many rural regions with the introduction of labour-saving technology, such as piped water and gas stoves, women in many countries still spend 10 hours a day or more (up to 19 hours/day, as has been recorded in Morocco) attending to various household and farming chores. In crop production, women work long hours in sowing, transplanting, fertilizing, weeding, thinning, pest control, harvesting, threshing and winnowing, and in many post-harvest activities such as bagging, sorting, grading, cleaning, storage and food processing. Women also spend extensive time in livestock production, such as feeding and watering, fodder gathering, herding, poultry and rabbit care, stable cleaning, collecting dung for fuel and fertilizer, caring for sick and pregnant or lactating animals, milking, ghee/butter and cheese-making, breeding, selection and marketing. Table 6 summarizes the available data on the number of hours rural women spend in household and agricultural work in selected countries.
Table 6: Time Spent on Agricultural and Domestic Tasks
Country |
Time Spent on Agricultural/Domestic Tasks |
Cyprus |
Women work up to 11 hours/day on family farm and household, while men spend up to 5 hours/day on their farms, over and above their off-farm jobs. |
Egypt |
Women spend 4.4 hours/day in household tasks, 1.2 hours/day in animal production |
and 1.1 hours/day in crop production, while men spend 0.3, 1.4 and 3.8 hours/day | |
for the same tasks, respectively.' | |
Jordan |
Female wage labourers work up to 15 hours/day. |
Lebanon |
Women work up to 14 hours/day. |
Morocco |
-Women work up to 12 hours/day -In irrigated zones, women can work up to 19 hours/day.b -In mountainous marginal rainfed zones, women work up to 15.5 hours/day (domestic: 28%; vegetable production: 40%; animal husbandry: 25%; handicrafts: 7%). |
Syria |
-25 % of women work more than 10 hours/day. -50% of women work 5-10 hours/day. -25 % of women work less than five hours/day. |
Yemen |
-Women work between 12-16 hours/day. Up to 5 hours/week are spent on collecting firewood and up to 4 hours/daily are spent on fetching water. -Men work up to 12 hours/day. |
Source: Compiled from Country Papers.
a According to a survey of 50 households in the Dakahlia governorate (1994).
b According to a 1987 National Survey of Rural Women.
In spite of the fact that most, if not all, Governments in the region have passed legislation stipulating equal rights for men and women in the field of work, including that of equal remuneration, the principle of equal pay for equal work has been difficult to implement, especially with respect to women working in rural areas. A synthesis of the data collected from the country papers indicates that women are paid less than men, often showing that women earn two-thirds or even half of what men earn for the same type of work (Table 7).
Table 7: Wage Differentials Between Men and Women in Selected Countries
Country |
Wage Differentials |
Cyprus |
Since 1988, women's hourly wage has been 63-64% of that of men's, and in 1991 women's average monthly salary was 51.2% of that of men's. |
Egypt |
Women earn two-thirds of wages earned by men as daily wages. |
Iran |
Women receive 46% of men's wages. Wage differentials vary according to task. |
Iraq |
Women earn less than men and the wage differential has increased between 1985-1993. |
Jordan |
Women earn less wages than men for similar tasks. |
Lebanon |
Women earn half the wages earned by men as daily labour. |
Morocco |
Women earn 71% of men's wages for casual labour. Wage differentials vary according to season. |
Syria |
Wage differentials vary according to task. |
Tunisia |
Women earn 30-50% of wages earned by men as temporary wages. |
Turkey |
Women receive 40-71% of men's daily wage. |
Yemen |
Women earn two-thirds of wages earned by men as daily wages. Wage differentials vary according to region. |
Source: Compiled from Country Papers.
Very few studies on decision-making at the household level have been conducted in countries of the Near East region. Consequently, it is extremely difficult to make conclusive statements regarding who makes decisions and in which areas. However, since family structures for the majority of the households in the region are male-headed and patriarchal, one could infer that men generally control decision-making, although in many situations, decisions are often made jointly (as in Morocco, for example, where 75% of women surveyed consulted with men prior to attending extension meetings). Women may also have more say than is generally perceived, and exercise significant power in certain family matters relating to marriage, education and divorce, and in other aspects such as child-care and household purchases. Women likewise make important decisions when the household is female-headed (although male relatives may be consulted or make decisions themselves), or when the enterprise is one in which women predominate, such as poultry, dairy products and kitchen garden produce, as is documented in the country papers of Egypt, Morocco and Turkey.
Moreover, studies have indicated that a woman's negotiating power and her status within the household improves if she is married with children (especially sons) and if she is elderly. Her negotiating power and status are further strengthened if she brings in additional income from activities she performs. In other words, if a woman is working and contributing to household expenditures, her power in the household and her economic worth are enhanced, as is her say in both household and agricultural matters. Thus, any effort to increase the resources and skills available to women in income-generating activities should improve their authority/decision-making power in the household.
Although rural women are heavily involved in almost all aspects of agricultural production, it emerges from the scant data available that their share in decision-making is not commensurate with the amount and type of agricultural work they shoulder. For example, while women are heavily involved in livestock production, with the exception of herding and marketing, decisions related to when to buy or sell, when to vaccinate, feed or water, lie most often with the male members of the household. Decisions regarding field crops such as purchase of inputs, and practices such as when to sow, fertilize, irrigate, weed, harvest and what machinery to use, mainly rest with the men, although women may be physically involved in many of these activities. Furthermore, men appear to have complete control in financial matters such as in credit and loans, marketing and allocation of subsequent generated income, land selling and land rental transactions.
From the data provided in the country papers, women appear to have more decision-making authority in irrigated regions than in rainfed, as documented in the country papers of Iraq, Lebanon and Cyprus. This is predominantly due to the heavy use of agricultural machinery in rainfed areas, and men's control over this machinery.
Since women are often solely responsible for poultry, dairy products and handicrafts, they are the primary decision-makers in issues regarding these enterprises. In Morocco and Egypt, for example, women are responsible for marketing poultry and dairy products. Income derived from these activities is then theirs to spend as they wish, which is usually allocated to household expenditures.
