Women\'s participation in agriculture

Bangladesh is predominantly an agrarian society where agriculture is viewed as a fundamental contributor to the economy. Since independence, the growth of agricultural production has been faster than the growth of population. At present, the population of Bangladesh is nearly 160 million and the per capita income is about $ 1,314. Most Bangladeshis earn their living from agriculture and it is the principal means of livelihood in rural areas. About 46.4 per cent of the total population is engaged in a wide range of agricultural activities and 30 per cent households are directly dependent on agricultural income in rural areas. Thus agriculture plays a vital role in creating employment, poverty alleviation, food security, standard of living and increase in earnings. Hence, the agriculture sector is playing a very important role for the accounting of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Despite the high pace of urbanisation in Bangladesh, most of the population still live in rural areas where they engage themselves in subsistence farming. Like other developing countries, the majority of women in Bangladesh's rural areas are involved with agricultural production process. Women, who primarily work as unpaid family workers, account for 45.6 per cent of the total employment in agriculture. Women are responsible for all subsequent operations, including removing and burning felled weeds, sowing or planting the plot, weeding, harvesting and preparing the crop for storage or immediate consumption. In addition to commercial crops, women are frequently engaged in small vegetable gardens that provide food for domestic production. Women's work in the household involves a range of demanding tasks including processing and pounding raw grains, tending livestock, cooking, washing, house cleaning, fetching water, and taking care of children and elderly members of the family. Collecting increasingly scarce firewood and water from distant sources may add several hours to the workday.

Perhaps, the most important role of women is providing food security for the household. More specifically, production of vegetables for household consumption helps insulate households from dramatic swings in food prices. They are also engaged in agricultural activities on other homesteads and help their husbands. As a result, it reduces cash outlays for the purchase of household necessities during periods of slack income. At the same time, women of rural areas contribute to our national economy which is not negligible.

Although women constitute about half of the Bangladesh population, their social status, especially in rural areas, remains very low. Unfortunately, their involvement with productive activities related to agriculture is undervalued and regarded as housework. As such, they are discriminated against in their personal and social life and even from state actions. For this, they are deprived of their rights and are still highly marginalised.  Rural women belong to the most deprived section of society facing adverse conditions in terms of social oppression and economic inequality, a visible majority of them being extremely poor.

In Bangladesh, women face extremely discriminatory and exploitative wage market, particularly in agriculture. Any economic strategy for agriculture and rural employment is linked to poverty alleviation and food security and for this gender equity and women's contribution to productivity and access to resources should be considered. It has been seen that a large number of women are not getting proper recognition from family, society and the state at large. It is high time to recognise their role in the agricultural sector in order that they deserve the credit as potential human resource for the country.

The writers Niamot Ali Enayet and RajibulHaque Piqul are respectably students at South Asian University, New Delhi and University of Dhaka. [email protected]