The Poor Indian Woman Farmer
Priya Deshingkar
GENDER, FOOD SECURITY AND RURAL LIVELIHOODS by Maithreyi Krishnaraj Stree, Kolkata, 2008, 380 pp., 550
December 2008, volume 32, No 12

This book as the title implies, covers three of the most important issues in development namely gender, food security and rural livelihoods. Finding enough to eat still remains a major concern for at least a third of the Indian population despite high levels of growth and substantial investment in rural development. Agriculture is in crisis, and all across the country men from poorly endowed areas are migrating seasonally leaving behind women in charge of farming. The resulting ‘feminization’ of labour is hardly a boon to women as the phrase suggests but instead, translates into poorly paid work and increased work burdens. Gender inequality in social and political structures means that although women have become farm managers and labourers, they still do not own the land that they cultivate. Mechanization and technological change have only worsened their condition. This is the core argument of this most interesting book. The different chapters explore women’s roles in agriculture both paid and unpaid as well as their role within the household and the complex relationship with livelihoods and food security.

The opening chapter by Swarna Vepa provides a disaggregated analysis of how women are disadvantaged in agriculture through an analysis of National Census data for 2001. District level analysis reveals that out of 582 districts for which data are available, 46% have more female agricultural labourers than men. There is compelling evidence to show that districts that have been classified as backward by the Planning Commission have a higher proportion of female agricultural labourers than those that are not.

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