Women in Agriculture in

Pakistan By

Mr. Allah dad KhanFormer Director

General Agriculture Extension KPK

Pakistan

Pakistan is a country with a great deal of diversity in culture, traditions, habits, attitudes and practices across its various provinces and regions, although there are similarities as well. So when the broad term of “Women in Agriculture” is used, it may not highlight the extensive and diverse role that women have in other provinces or regions. The role and responsibilities of women change as the geographic area changes, along with changing local customs and traditions. Even the gender roles, food and nutrition practices vary across different areas, ethnic groups as well as ecological zones.

Pakistan

Rural women play a very significant role in agriculture. A large portion of rural women perform unpaid work in agriculture. However, women’s role differs according to geographical zones. Along the coast, women work as agricultural labors in the cultivation of export crops as well as in food production for the household. In the mountain zone, women participate in all the agricultural tasks, especially in land preparation, sowing, banking, weeding, harvesting and irrigation and are responsible for livestock and small scale marketing. In fisheries sector, women are involved in food processing and marketing. As women have the major responsibility for post harvest activities such as processing and storage, they play a key role in household food security.

Rural Women

Women also perform a major role in livestock, especially in regard to shepherding, feeding, milking and calving. Women farmers do not have equal access to resources and this significantly limits their potential in enhancing productivity. They are often at a severe disadvantage when it comes to securing land tenure rights, owning livestock, accessing financial services, receiving the kind of extension services and resources (Amin et al, 2009).

Role of Rural Women

The prosperity and growth of a nation depends on the position and development of its females, as they not only constitute nearly half of its population but also positively influence the growth of remaining half of the population. Rural women play momentous role in many agricultural activities in many countries. They perform almost all types of activities in agriculture and livestock sector

Rural Women Prosperity

The major constraint for the involvement of women in agricultural activities is the household activities which takes much time to perform it. In Pakistan, majority of population live in rural areas whose source of revenue depends directly or indirectly on agriculture sector

Constraints in Rural development

Rural women in Pakistan are among the millions of landless and small farmers (Sadaf et al, 2006). Rural women rely on crop production and livestock sector to fulfill their basic needs of food, clothing and shelter. These women play a key role in agriculture growth, livestock raising, cottage industry and stay busy from sunrise to sunset to provide food to men in the fields, fetching water, collecting fuel wood and management of livestock. While working shoulder to shoulder with men, they really supplement their efforts in the cultivation of the crops right from the preparation of soil to the post harvest operations.

Rural Women in Pakistan

Recommendation

Attitudinal and behavioral change particularly in men is very important in improving the plight of the women in Pakistan. There are certain social taboos which are hampering the access to education and training. Women should get equal opportunity of education just like men. They have a right to good health and they should stand up and speak for their right. It is recommended that ways to raise awareness and provide education to address gender issues must be provided

Support from Men:

In order to improve women participation in dairy and agriculture industry we have to identify their role and type of work in these industries as mango and citrus are considered heavy crops. Women are involved in picking, grading and packing activities at Mitchells Industries in Okara district and there is need to implement that style in other areas as well. Therefore, by imparting post harvest management skills such as processing, packing and quality control will help them in establishing juice, jam and pickle industries at local level. It will promote local entrepreneurships. It is recommended that agriculture training for women be offered on farms and in local villages

Education and Training for Women:

Rural women generally lack training, skills and opportunities in this area. There is need to involve urbanite women in this area so that they could also play an effective role in this area as well. It is recommended that developmental programmes should be launched to engage urban women with rural women in order to develop market skills in rural women so that they could get good price for their produce

Marketing Training:

They can play a positive role in improving women participation in agriculture industry in Pakistan by providing training to women at their door step. There are farm field schools for men in some areas of the Punjab so there is need to replicate this experiment for women as well. It is recommended to develop a training programme for female agriculture extension workers

Enhanced Role of Extension Workers:

Women should be encouraged to have economic independence. The government should investigate opportunities for developing agricultural entrepreneurial activities with concomitant training for women.

Women empowerment techniques: