A Disappointing Harvest for Rural Women - A WOW! e-Brief

 

RURAL WOMEN AND AGRICULTURE: AN OVERVIEW

 

Women living in rural areas comprise one-quarter of the world’s total population. These women play crucial roles in their community, but their situation and needs are often overlooked.

 

Of the approximately 35 million rural women in the world, a large percentage suffers from poverty, lack of access to education, employment and health care services. Their contributions to their communities, especially in the area of food production, are generally invisible.

 

Rural women are responsible for over half of the world’s agricultural output. They are responsible for 80 percent of the food grown in Africa, 60 percent in Asia, and 30-40 percent in Latin America and Western countries. These women are the main producers of staple crops, such as rice, wheat and maize, and these crops provide 90 percent of the food consumed in developing areas.

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Additionally, women make a large contribution to the production of crops for sale, such as legumes and vegetables. The production of these foods provides essential nutrients for families during times of small harvests. Furthermore, women play a major role in raising livestock, often being responsible for feeding and milking animals.

 

Despite their prominent role in producing food for consumption and sale, rural women are among the most disadvantaged within their communities. Women face a disproportionate burden in terms of workload that makes them responsible for producing, providing and preparing food. In addition, women also have more limited access to resources that could improve their productivity and reduce their burdens. In particular, women lack access to tools, credit, education and services.

 

Rural women face numerous obstacles in gaining access to resources that would better their economic status. Throughout the developing world, women, even when they are the sole or main provider for their household, are denied full legal status that would give them access to agricultural grants and loans.

 

Despite the crucial role played by women in rural areas, women only own 2 percent of land and receive only 1 percent of all agricultural credit worldwide. Cultural and legal practices that prohibit women from being landowners further inhibit their access to credit. Men are recognized as landowners and therefore have collateral when trying to secure credit. Women, on the other hand, have virtually no property of their own to serve as collateral.

For example, in Nepal, women own less than 10 percent of agricultural lands. In parts of Africa, women receive less than 10 percent of the loans awarded to small landholders and only 1 percent of the total credit given to agricultural production. Ironically, studies have shown that when women do receive credit, they are more likely to repay their debts than their male counterparts.

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Another factor contributing to the plight of rural women is their lack of access to education. Studies done by the World Bank and the United Nations have shown that increased education for women not only fulfills a basic human right, but can also allow them to improve productivity.

 

For example, one study showed that increasing women’s primary education corresponded to increasing yields by up to 24 percent. In the areas where increased productivity could benefit communities the most, girls’ education remains limited. In South Asia and Africa, girls’ attendance in primary school is 60 and 68 percent, respectively, of boys’ attendance.

 

In addition, women’s access to education plays a major role in improving the status of women within their communities. United Nations’ studies have shown a correlation between education and women’s participation in decision-making. The greater access women have to education the more likely they are to participate in policymaking regarding agriculture. Improving women’s education would significantly improve health and nutrition, lower child morbidity and slow population growth.

 

Another factor contributing to the poverty of rural women is their lack of access to training services that teach new agricultural technologies. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, female farmers only receive 5 percent of these services and only 15 percent of trainers are female. Training services provide information on new technologies, plant varieties and cultural practices that improve food production. This lack of information results in limiting women’s productivity, thereby reducing their ability to generate income.

Improving the economic status of rural women requires organizations to focus on increasing women’s access to credit, education and training. These methods also have other subsequent effects that improve the overall status of women in their communities. Increased economic power corresponds to greater decision-making power among women. Access to education provides women with skills that allow them to expand their occupations beyond that of agriculture. World Neighbors approach in aiding rural women focuses on addressing these many complex issues in order to have a more effective influence on the status of women in the partner communities.

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Photo credits this page:

1 - Ecuadorian farmers planting, by Kathy Edwards

2 - Timor Leste farming group, by Scott Killough

Other sections of this e-brief:

2 - World Neighbors and Rural Women

3 - Profile: Carmen Muyulema

4 - Learn More and Get Involved

 

A WOW! e-Brief

Work of Women @ World Neighbors

February 2008

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