A Model To Include Women In Developmental Initiatives
A Model To Include Women In Developmental Initiatives
Authors : Yogesh Bhatt and Sukumar R
Any discussion on women always veers around to the gender disparities prevailing in the community. This is the case with agriculture,too, where women are never recognized as a core workforce. The subject, “Women in Agriculture” has several aspects: 1. Women’s contribution to the total labour in agriculture; 2. Food safety and security for all the women members 3. Women’s share of agricultural profit/ loss and natural resources; 4. Women’s participation in trainings and exposures organized by state universities, Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVK), NGOs, and other development partners; 5. Women’s involvement in activities allied to agriculture, such as sericulture and fisheries.
The Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (India), which has focused on identifying and reducing the challenges faced by tribal communities in south Gujarat for the last three decades, has used the crosscutting themes of gender and development as the basis for all the development initiatives under it.
The main tribes of south Gujarat are Bhil, Konkani, Kotwalia and Kunbi. Traditionally these communities are marginal farmers who depend on rainfed agriculture and non-timber forest products for survival. Over-exploitation and outmoded agricultural practices have eroded the natural resource base of these communities and pushed them into a vicious cycle of poverty and indebtedness.
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