Feminization of Agriculture: Do Female Farmers Have Higher Expectations for the Value of Their Farmland?—Empirical Evidence from China

An individual’s expectations for the value of farmland are a manifestation of his or her awareness of farmland rights and interests. Differences between male and female farmers in their use of farmland, employment, education, and rights protection may ultimately lead to differences in the evaluation of land value between the two groups. Clarifying such gender differences in the valuation of farmland and the reasons for them is of great significance for the formulation of policies and scientific research in areas such as the protection of rural women’s rights, nonagricultural employment, and land transfer. In the context of the global “feminization of agriculture”, we start with individuals’ psychological expectations for the value of farmland. We use data on farmland from the 2015 China Household Finance Survey (CHFS) and estimate an OLS regression model. The moderating effects model identifies the impact of gender differences on such expectations and the underlying mechanism. We find that (1) rural female farmers’ psychological expectations for the value of farmland are much lower than those of males due to their disadvantages in receiving information through policy publicization and their greater willingness to transfer into nonagricultural employment, and (2), according to the heterogeneity analysis, better educated female farmers and those living in areas with greater economic and social development expect farmland to be more valuable. These conclusions show that female farmers are currently less aware of their economic rights in rural China than male farmers, and that education, policy propaganda, and economic and social underdevelopment hinder their awareness of women’s rights. We propose policy suggestions to ensure women’s educational rights, promote the adjustment of the industrial structure and of policy propaganda, and balance regional economic and social development.

Beyond the (Dis)Empowerment Binary: Inevitability and the Feminization of Agriculture in Chitwan, Nepal

Changing demands of the agricultural sector, due to male out-migration, have been shown to influence power dynamics and livelihood strategies within households, communities, and broader society. These shifts have led to a rise in women’s agricultural engagement in Nepal. In hypothesizing the outcomes of what has been defined as the feminization of agriculture on the women left behind, the existing literature has created a (dis)empowerment binary. Based on field work conducted in Chitwan, we initially confirm that women do experience that increased agricultural engagement presents both the potential for an increased burden and an opportunity for empowerment. Our research then goes beyond this binary, by utilizing the concept of inevitability, revealing both the micro and macro level nexi of migration, agriculture, and gender in relation to the feminization of agriculture in Nepal. By underscoring the double inevitability of both male out-migration itself and women’s roles within their households we argue we can more accurately represent our informants’ lived realities and thereby provide an alternative to the (dis)empowerment binary for future research. This includes the recognition of a relational nature of the feminization of agriculture phenomenon, which is often overlooked in the current discourse.

Feminization of African Agriculture and the Meaning of Decision-Making for Empowerment and Sustainability

The purpose of this study was to assess women’s decision-making power in small-scale agriculture in six African countries in view of the feminization of agriculture and to discuss the meaning of decision-making in relation to women’s empowerment and sustainability. The data are drawn from a multisite and mixed-method agricultural research and development project in six sub-Saharan countries including two sites in each country. The five domains of empowerment outlined in the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index are used to structure the analysis. The results indicate that in the selected sites in Malawi, Rwanda and South Africa, women farmers tend to dominate agricultural decision-making, while the result is more mixed in the Kenyan sites, and decision-making tends to be dominated by men in the sites in Tanzania and Ethiopia. Despite women participating in agricultural decision-making, the qualitative results show that women small-scale farmers were not perceived to be empowered in any of the country sites. It appears that the feminization of agriculture leads to women playing a more important role in decision-making but also to more responsibilities and heavier workloads without necessarily resulting in improvements in well-being outcomes that would enhance sustainability.

Gender And Design: Gender Bias In Agrotechnology

— The role of women as farmers has existed in the history of human life for centuries. However, the Green Revolution made the role of women who were previously trusted to select seeds, weed, plant, fertilize, harvest and pound rice replaced by the role of technology. As with other designs and technologies, there has been a gender bias, so the researchers suspect that there is a gender bias in the design of agrotechnologywhich has an impact on the marginalization of female farmers. Through a literature review, researchers explored gender bias in design of agrotechnology and its impact on female farmers. Design of agrotechnology is still gender biased because it was designed without taking women's ergonomics. In fact, women have different ergonomic characteristics from men, but that does not mean they do not have the capacity to farm. Feminization of agriculture will be a profitable job opportunity for women if it is accompanied by the feminization intervention of agricultural machine and tool. Keywords: gender bias, design, agrotechnology, agriculture, female farmer

Feminization of Indian Agriculture: A Review

After liberalization the Indian agriculture went through a phenomenon called feminization of agriculture which means increase the share of women in agricultural work force. However this feminization was not consistent with empowerment as still a these workforce are underpaid as compare to its male counterpart. The differences in participation between men and women workers were lowest to the states with higher share of workers in agriculture. In order to understand the factors determining this phenomenon, constraints causing the impediment the participation and policies to overcome it, a number of literature had been compiled in this paper. Feminization in agriculture occurred due to migration of male work force from agriculture. However, this phenomenon does not consistent with empowerment as women work force are always underpaid. Proportion of land utilized for food grain, per capita income, land holdings were some of the factors which were determining the women’s participation. In order to improve the situation for women government are now focusing on gender budgeting. Besides women’s participation in research work had been encouraging to develop technology which will be suitable for the use of women.