fbpx
27.7 C
Islamabad
Friday, March 29, 2024
immediate bitwave

5 Countries Where Women Farmers Play a Vital Role in Agriculture 

Must read

Introduction:

Significant growth and the poverty-reduction driver is agriculture. In many nations, agriculture and the rural economy underperform because women must overcome obstacles to boost production.

Using empirical data, we analyze where and how women participate in agriculture. Women comprise roughly 43% of the agricultural labor force worldwide and in emerging nations. 

According to the FAO of the UN, most women in LDCs work in agriculture. In rural places, poor women frequently shoulder the responsibility of farming and food production

Despite this, women are more likely to be poor, have less education, and lack necessities.

According to studies, women can greatly benefit from the economic and social empowerment that agriculture can provide. Women can transcend poverty if they own farms, use contemporary technology, manage their salaries, and provide for their families.

These advantages assist not only women but also their families and entire communities. 

Five countries where women play an important role: 

These five nations prioritize women farmers in agriculture despite the difficulties they confront. 

Pakistan

Since the agricultural sector produces most of Pakistan’s economic resources, the country has an agriculture-based economy. According to the World Atlas, 74% of women in Pakistan who are employed work in agriculture. 

Since female labor force participation in Pakistan is low, even more women work in agriculture informally.

In rural places, males prepare the ground, and women farmers plant and weed crops.

Pakistan farmers

Most women farmers harvest cotton in Pakistan, one of the world’s top producers of raw cotton. Women risk heat exhaustion, snake bites, chemical exposure, and cotton boll wounds in the fields.

Their sacrifices resulted in cotton, which is used to produce garments, linens, and other commercial goods all over the world. 

Tanzania 

Moreover, two-thirds of Tanzanians work in the agricultural sector, which employs 70% of women. Agriculture is the country’s main source of income. 

Tanzania farmers

Tanzania has the largest proportion of women working in agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa at 81%, compared to 55% elsewhere. 

Most Tanzanian farmers are smallholders who operate on family-owned farms less than two hectares in size. It caused problems for women due to restrictive land ownership restrictions.

Gambia 

The Gambia’s agricultural industry is its most significant economic sector. Farming is frequently the only source of income for Gambians in rural areas. 

Around the nation, 38% of women work in agriculture, which employs 80% of Gambians. 

Women farmers run most of the country’s agricultural sector, except pump-irrigated rice farms; however, this varies among various ethnic groups and locations. 

Gambia

In the Gambia, rice farming is viewed as a woman’s occupation since men are believed to be less skilled at managing and identifying crop varieties than women. Therefore, the whole production of rice harvests is under the control of sinkers, the female counterparts to village chiefs. 

Sri Lanka 

The Sri Lankan economy’s most significant industry is agriculture, where 34% of working women are employed. 

In Sri Lanka, women frequently engage in Chena farming, an old method of growing vegetables and grains, or in paddy fields, a flooded area used to grow rice. Women make up 50% of the workforce during this time of year and are heavily involved in food production after the harvest. 

However, women farmers in Sri Lanka struggle to have equal access to agricultural resources because of long-standing social conventions. 

Sri Lanka 

Since people can no longer make a living from their crops due to recurring droughts, climate change also threatens Sri Lanka’s agricultural sector. 

Turkey 

In recent years, Turkey’s economy has become less dependent on agriculture, but as men moved into other professions, women began running family farms all around the nation. 

In Turkey, 32% of working women are involved in agriculture, primarily in rural and underdeveloped areas. 

Turkey women farmers

Conclusion

The world’s food and resources depend heavily on women in these five nations and millions of others. Yet, they are frequently underpaid or made to labor in hazardous or unjust conditions. 

According to National Geographic, the productivity rate has increased by 30%. It would contribute to the eradication of hunger for an estimated 150 million people if they were given the same education and resources as their male counterparts. 

In addition to reducing poverty and battling climate change, empowering women farmers has been linked to eradicating hunger.

+ posts
- Advertisement -spot_img

More articles

- Advertisement -spot_img

Latest article