Oxfam-Monash report provides key insights into women’s participation in village economic activity
View(s):Initial results of a survey among 2000 women in the districts of Ampara, Hambantota and Polonnaruwa have provided critical insight into women’s participation in agricultural and non-agricultural livelihoods, and explores various factors that may impact on women’s economic empowerment.“A qualitative life course based study with 66 women drawn from these districts as well as local officials, community sector workers and some men, explored how rural women engage in livelihood activities throughout their life, to identify and understand barriers and opportunities for rural women’s livelihoods,” the joint study commissioned by Oxfam and Australia’s Monash University in a preliminary report revealed.
At the recent public launch in Colombo where several NGOs and other activists participated, the Oxford-Monash-backed research team said the final report including the qualitative data will be released by the end of November 2015. The Oxfam-Monash Partnership Research study was on “Facilitating Rural Women’s Participation and Recognition in Sustainable Agricultural Livelihoods in Post-War Sri Lanka”.The study aimed to examine rural women’s participation in agricultural livelihoods and constraints to access sustainable livelihoods in an effort to enhance more equitable participation and recognition for rural women. It used a life course approach to understand how women engage, disengage and at times abandon agricultural livelihood activities while also engaging in parallel non-agricultural income earning activities.
The preliminary report said data from the Department of Census and Statistics 2013 reveal that keeping with previous trends, the majority of ‘economically inactive’ population is in the rural sector, and 75 per cent are women. This statistic is attributed to the lack of accounting for women in the informal sector especially women who engage in cottage industries and unwaged family labour. “Around the world, rural women face disproportionate levels of poverty, and multiple forms of discrimination, violence and insecurity as compared to rural men and urban men and women. The results of this research aim to prioritise rural women’s livelihoods in the development agenda to recognize and address the spectrum of inequalities rural women face. The UN has recently affirmed that women are the ‘backbone of rural livelihoods’ and community sustainability, but without adequate support and transformation, we will continue to shift responsibility to women disempowering, not empowering them. This study is a contribution to aid this transformation,” the preliminary report, released last month, said.
Women in Paddy Cultivation and Agriculture
While paddy cultivation continued to play an important role in the rural economy and receive much attention by the state, the survey revealed that only 25.8 per cent of women reported agriculture to be their main source of income. Data also revealed that women do not engage in paddy cultivation in a sustained manner throughout their life course. At various points in their life time women engage in multiple income generating activities, moving away from paddy cultivation, the report said. In rural households whose main livelihood is agriculture, which includes other field crops (OFCs), paddy, chena and livestock, 68.1 per cent of women members reported engaging in agriculture. The rate of ‘unemployment’ among women in households mainly engaged in agriculture was the lowest in the rural sector: 17.5 per cent in comparison to an average of 35.7 per cent for rural women as a whole.
Rural women’s livelihoods
The report said that when rural women are in their most economically productive age – between 16 and 50-, they are also most likely not to be engaged in paddy cultivation. In other words, rural women are more likely to be engaged in non-paddy livelihood activities over the longest period in their life-course, and at the ages in which their household income contribution can be assumed to be the greatest, it said. What are these? The three most common non-paddy livelihoods for women in descending order of significance are: agriculture but of other field crops (e.g. onions, chillies, groundnut, maize, green gram etc); home-based non-agricultural production (e.g. sewing, food-preparation, handicrafts, packing spices, etc); ready-made garments export industries,; and daily waged labour (in paddy, other agricultural activity, and in non-agricultural activities).
omen aged between 16 and 20 are more likely to be in industrial garment work; followed by other field crops; and in third place, home based production. Women between 21 and 30 years are more likely to engage in other field crops; followed by industrial garments; and once more in third place, home-based production. Women between 31 and 40 years in age are most likely to be engaged in other field crops; followed by home-based agricultural production; and in third place, waged-labour, that is off their own farm). Women between 41 and 50 years of age are most likely to be engaged in other field crops; followed by home-based production; and in third place again, waged labour, the report added
According to the survey, the majority preferred home based non-agricultural production, the second most popular first choice was for other field crops (OFCs), and the industrial-garment sector came in as the third most popular first choice.
Factors impacting rural women’s livelihoods
The report noted that among the many factors that impact on rural women’s livelihoods, the study found gendered roles and practices to be a major constraint for rural women in sustaining their livelihood activities. The survey revealed that 47.5 per cent of women migrated to their present village. Of this number of women who had migrated from their natal villages, 66 per cent cited marriage (that is moving to be with their husband in his village), as the main reason for their change of residence.“Nearly 95 per cent of women reported being solely responsible for cooking and cleaning, 73 per cent reported being responsible for collecting firewood and 56 per cent reported being responsible for collecting water. When it came to their children’s education, 43.2 per cent of women reported being responsible for after-school teaching and supervision of children,” the study noted.
Only 12 per cent of women in households engaged in paddy cultivation for their own consumption reported it as their primary responsibility. Meanwhile, from the households producing vegetables for own consumption, 55.5 per cent of women reported vegetable cultivation as their responsibility and out of the households breeding poultry, 51.2 per cent reported it as their responsibility.
Decision making
Women reported being the primary or main decision maker in domestic responsibilities in preparing meals, cleaning the house, taking care of children and in the education of children echoing the findings from household responsibilities which clearly depended on women.“In terms of decisions relating to purchasing of consumption goods, property, furniture, investments and social mobility such as visiting relatives and friends or going outside the village for work, leisure or pilgrimage the majority of women reported making such decisions in consultation with the husband,” it said.
Ownership of assets
Women were more likely to own smaller livestock, chickens, small consumer durables and jewellery. More women reported their spouses owning large livestock, paddy land, land for cultivation, farm equipment and fishing equipment compared to women who reported owning such assets themselves, it said.
Education
The survey found that a majority of women, nearly 66 per cent, had not obtained the basic OL qualification. This included 30.5 per cent of women schooling up to the OL, 17 per cent schooling till Grade 9 (14 years of age) with 8.9 per cent reporting schooling till Grade 5. The survey found 5.2 per cent of women were unable to read and write and 4.3 per cent of women were literate but received no formal education.
Credit facilities, access to loans and debt
The majority of women reported having borrowed money from banks and financial institutions. Others borrowed from informal lenders, family friends, and NGOs. 32.9 per cent of these women reported using such loans for household needs and 17.7 per cent for usiness and cultivation. Of the 16.8 per cent of women who reported having obtained loans from NGOs; the purpose was mainly for vocational development), agricultural activities, business development and housing improvements. Some 23.8 per cent of women also reported having engaged in Seettu, a community based savings or exchange system, the second most popular association among women.
State services
“When women were asked if they thought the state adequately addresses livelihood requirements, 73.5 per cent of women reported in the negative. The reasons included perceived lack of attention from state institutions and officers, job opportunities not being expanded, lack of state support, lack of facilities for their livelihood activities, and unanswered requests for assistance to name a few,” the report said.