in her name? gender differences in agricultural land ownership

The Gender Asset Gap Project

In Her Name? Gender Differences in Agricultural Land Ownership

Suchitra J. Y. and Hema Swaminathan

Centre for Public Policy

Indian Institute of Management Bangalore

Presented at MAKAAM , Bapatala, March 17, 2016


Women’s Land Ownership

• Almost impossible to get a clear picture of women’s land ownership

– Sex-disaggregated data not collected

– Largely anecdotal evidence

– Household level data limits analysis to male headed vs. female headed

– Hides discrepancies within households; is not illuminative of the situation of the majority of women


Distribution of Operational Holdings by Sex of Head of Household (% holdings)

Source: Agricultural Census, 2010-11

81 75

88 82 81

75 80 81

87

19 25

12 18 19

25 20 19

13

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Male-headed Female-headed


• Gender differences in agricultural land ownership using individual data

• Modes of agricultural land acquisition by men and women

• Karnataka and India

Broad Framework


• Karnataka Household Asset Survey (KHAS), 2010-11

• India Human Development Survey (IHDS), 2011-12

Data Sources


Agricultural Workforce, KHAS

Rural Urban Total

Men Women Men Women Men Women

% in agriculture (principal occupation) 69 80 8 17 54 70

Of those in agriculture

Self-employed 41 6 24 1 41 7

Casual 45 57 72 88 46 58

Contributing family workers 13 36 4 11 13 35


Incidence of Ag. Land Ownership by Sex, Karnataka, KHAS

37

8 6

1

24

4

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Men Women Men Women Men Women

Rural Urban Total

% adults owning land


Land Ownership and Occupational Sector (Rural), KHAS

Men

Women

Ownership status

Occupational sector

Total Agriculture Non-agriculture

Land owner 11 7 10

Non land owner 89 93 90

Total 100 100 100

Ownership status

Occupational sector

Total Agriculture Non-agriculture

Land owner 44 19 36

Non land owner 56 81 64

Total 100 100 100


Incidence of Ag. Land Ownership by Sex, Karnataka Districts (%),

KHAS

17

38 39

32

26

33

27

3

24

12 8 7 6 6 6 5

0 4

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

Men Women


Incidence of Agricultural Land Ownership

by Sex, Rural India (%), IHDS 2011-12

26

29

20

34

23

19

24

5 5 5 4 3 2

4

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

North West South Central East North East India

Men Women


Incidence of Agricultural Land Ownership by

Sex, Rural India (%), IHDS 2011-12

41 42

37

33

23

17

31

16

34

19

38

22

13

24

29

18

25

19 20

22

13

3 4

29

24

12

8 6 6 6

5 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4

3 2 2 2 2 2 2

1 1 0

4

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

Men Women


Area Owned by Sex (%), KHAS

• 82.91% of total area owned by households is owned by adult males

– 3.7 acres owned by the average adult male owner

– 1.02 acres owned by the average adult male

• 17.09% is owned by adult females

– 2.98 acres owned by the average adult female owner

– 0.19 acres owned by the average adult female


Ag. Land Wealth Shares by Sex, Karnataka (%), KHAS

85

15

Rural

Male Female

83

17

Urban

Male Female


Women’s Participation in Agricultural Decision-making, Karnataka (%), KHAS

40 38

22

39

23

38 37

60

3 2

36

62

2

20

78

2

38

60

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Alone Joint Do notdecide



What to plant Sale of produce Use of revenue

Owner Non-owner


• Inheritance

• Asset markets

• Marriage

• Gifts and transfers

• Government programmes

How Do Men and Women Acquire Assets?


Modes of Acquisition, Karnataka, KHAS (% owners)

Modes of acquisition Agricultural Land

Men Women

Purchased 9.42 14.63

Natal inheritance of self 82.36 21.14

Natal inheritance of spouse 2.71 31.17

Inheritance upon death of spouse 0.15 21.14

Government Programmes 2.01 3.25

Other 3.36 8.67

Total number of owners 1,995 369


Inheritance Patterns, Karnataka, KHAS (% owners who inherited)

29 30

96 95

70

22

3 2 0

47

0 1 0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Married women Single women Married men Single men

Natal inheritance of self Natal inheritance of spouse

Inheritance upon death of spouse Other


Modes of Acquisition of Ag. Land, Rural India (%), IHDS 2011-12

88

85

67

33

70

83

2 1 4 1

9

2 3 7

3

50

13 8

4 6

25

13

3 4 2 1 0 0 3 2 0 0 2 3 2 1

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Karnataka Maharashtra Kerala Tamil Nadu North East India

Inherited / Gifted to male Inherited / Gifted to female

Undivided family land Purchased

Received from government/panchayat Other


Summary of Modes

• Natal inheritance favours men

• Marriage important means for women, but separation of property marital regime

– Property purchased prior to marriage, and

inherited remains individual, as also property purchased after marriage

– No concept of joint marital assets


Issues for Advocacy

• Promote women’s property rights (ownership, access, control) – Increase awareness of Hindu Succession Amendment Act (2005) – Change perceptions/norms regarding women’s property rights – Limit ability to will away self-acquired property – Amend laws to ensure women get property share if marriage

breaks down – Address rights to property for women among other religions

• Recognise women as farmers – Sensitise extension workers on gender issues – Build capacity on land management – Encourage participation in agricultural produce & land markets

• Develop women’s land-related indicators, track progress – Count individuals, not households – Update inheritance records to include women – Identify single women, widows; get their access to land

recorded


Distribution of Ag. Plot Owners by Sex, Karnataka (% owners)

District % men % women

Source: Authors’ calculations: Bhoomi Database, Accessed in 2012

District % men % women Udupi 53 47 Dakshina Kannada 66 34 Chikkaballapur 70 30 Uttara Kannada 73 27 Bagalkote 78 22 Dharwad 79 21 Chitradurga 79 21 Shimoga 81 19 Bengaluru Urban 81 19 Bellary 81 19 Chamarajanagar 81 19 Davangere 81 19 Mandya 82 18 Hassan 82 18 Mysore 82 18 Koppal 83 17

Chikkamagalur 83 17

Bengaluru Rural 83 17

Bijapur 83 17

Tumkur 83 17

Ramanagara 84 16

Raichur 84 16

Gulbarga 84 16

Gadag 85 15

Bidar 86 14

Kolar 86 14

Kodagu 87 13

Haveri 88 12

Yadgir 91 9

Belgaum 93 7

KARNATAKA 80 20

The Gender Asset Gap Project The Gender Asset Gap Project

Thank You

Project website: www.genderassetgap.org

Contact: [email protected]; [email protected]

9180-2699-3458; 9180-2699-3393

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]


Incidence of Asset Ownership by Sex, Karnataka Rural (%), KHAS

45

11

37

63

87

18

8

35

48

21 15

3 8

57

82

15

4

20

29

53

0

20

40

60

80

100

Male Female


Incidence of Asset Ownership by Sex, Karnataka Urban (%), KHAS

21

5 6 7

17

3

16

41

70

23

9

2 1 6

17

2 5

21

49 46

0

20

40

60

80

Male Female


Composition of Household Wealth, Karnataka (%), KHAS

in her name? gender differences in agricultural land ownership

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