Women in Agriculture-Emerging Challenges and …€¦ · Web viewWomen in Agriculture-Emerging Challenges and Opportunities Odisha Livelihoods MissionPage 8 SIRDPage 0 Odisha Livelihoods

Women in Agriculture-Emerging Challenges and Opportunities

SIRD Page 0

Odisha Livelihoods Mission

Workshop on “Women in Agriculture-Emerging

16 February 2015

Organized by

Panchayati Raj DepartmentGovernment of Odisha

Bhubaneswar


Table of Contents

AGENDA OF THE WORKSHOP2

1. BACKGROUND.................................................................................................3

1.1 MKSP (Agriculture) Progress in Odisha......................................................3

1.2 Objective of the workshop..........................................................................3

2. SESSION-1.......................................................................................................4

3. SESSION-2.......................................................................................................6

3.1 Experience of the participants....................................................................6

4. SESSION-3.....................................................................................................10

5. SESSION-4.....................................................................................................12

5.1 Interventions for Women on Agriculture & Allied Sector Livelihood..........13

6. SESSION-5.....................................................................................................15

Odisha Livelihoods Mission Page 1


BACKGROUNDMahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana (MKSP) is a special program initiated for

livelihood enhancement and vulnerability reduction started in 2010-11, by Ministry

of Rural Development (MoRD). The program envisages empowering women in

agriculture by making systematic investments to enhance their participation and

productivity, and also to create and sustain agriculture based livelihoods of rural

women. The program is being implemented by National Rural Livelihood Mission

(NRLM) in partnership with State Departments/CSOs as implementing partners

(PIAs) across the country.

Under NRLM, the core agenda of MKSP is to (i) create sustainable livelihood

institutions around agriculture and allied activities (ii) create sector-specific

geography-specific best package of practices and (iii) create a wide pool of

community resource persons for scaling up livelihood interventions in the entire

country

1.1 MKSP (Agriculture) Progress in Odisha

The monitoring and evaluation of MKSP is currently being looked after by

Odisha Rural Marketing and Development Society (ORMAS), an autonomous body

under the Panchayati Raj Department. The total project cost under MKSP

(Agriculture) is Rs.38.50 crores for three years which covers 35,450 Mahila Kisans

of nine (9) districts of Odisha. The districts are Koraput, Rayagada, Malkangiri,

Nabarangpur, Kalahandi, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Khordha and Kandhamal. Under

MKSP (Agriculture) proposals of seven PIAs have been sanctioned by MoRD.

PIAs under MKSP are:

SODI (South Odisha Development Initiative) Consortium-Lead-Madhyam

Foundation

Life Academy of Vocational Studies (LAVS)

Harsha Trust

Madhyam Foundation

Organisation for Rural Reconstruction & Integrated Social Service Activities

(ORRISSA)

M S Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF)



Professional Assistance for Development Action (PRADAN)

1.2 Objective of the workshop

To facilitate creative interaction and discuss relevant experiences of

challenges and opportunities faced by women farmers

To derive means to tackle the challenges in an effective manner

PARTICIPANTS

About 70 participants attended the workshop which includes ORMAS and OLM,

officials, partners of MKSP and women farmers from their respective areas. Apart

from that academicians and resource persons were also invited from various

reputed institutions as Xavier’s Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar (XIMB) and

National Mission Management Unit (NMMU). Field practitioners, scientists from

Directorate of Research of Women in Agriculture (DRWA), officials from other line

departments such as OTELP (Odisha Tribal Empowerment Livelihood Program),

IMAGE (Institution on Management of Agricultural Extension) etc. and various

NGO representatives such as IGSSS, CRS, CARR etc. who have ample

experience in agriculture practices were present in the workshop for sharing their

knowledge. International experts from The Second Chance Foundation were also

present to share their rich experience.

1. SESSION-1

Shri. B.N.Das, Executive Director, ORMAS welcomed all the participants and

started the gracious event by taking the introduction of the participants followed by

introducing Shri Pranab Jyoti Nath, IAS, State Mission Director cum CEO; Odisha Livelihoods Mission .Director, OLM described the workshop as a



learning tool for all and briefly described the objectives of the workshop, hence

setting the tone of the workshop.

Creating awareness about the developed technologies, what problems Mahila

Kisans are facing and what solution can be found out to these problems are the

objective which this workshop should achieve. He requested every participant to

speak about their experience and problems. Before the experience sharing by the

Mahila Kisans, a short movie was shown which was developed by National Rural

Livelihoods Mission. The highlights of the movie is as:

Agriculture is a major source of Livelihood for the majority of the rural poor

in India. Women constitute 33% of the agricultural labour force and 48% of

the self employed farmers in India.

MKSP was started by National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) to

improve the status of women in agriculture and to enhance the opportunities

for empowerment. MKSP is strategized in a manner to target the Poorest of

the Poor and the most vulnerable women such as SC/ST, minorities,

landless and Primitive Tribal Groups.

Provision of a complete end-to end service through linking up women

farmers with community based institutions providing access to a complete

package of options from credit, insurance and inputs, to procurement, value

addition and marketing of produce is the focus to make it as holistic as

possible.



As per case studies ,by Creating Sustainable Agricultural Livelihood

opportunities and adoption of 2 livelihood streams by a Mahila Kisan will

result in an additional income of Rs 50,000/- to Rs 85000/- per annum.

After the screening of the movie, which clearly showed the benefits of being a part

of MKSP, the introduction of the Guest of Honour took place. Dr. Joan Mencher, Chairperson, Second Chance Foundation, USA, has been working in India

since 1958 on Women and agriculture. Mr. Frank Southworth, Professor Emeritus of Linguistics, University of Pennsylvania also accompanied her to

the event.

After the round of introductions, Mr. Debaraj Behera, National Mission Manager,

Livelihoods presented a brief summary of the initiation of MKSP. In spite of

women contributing 70% of their time to agriculture in India, nowhere, Mahila Kisan

gets mentioned. The "Programme for the Empowerment of Women Farmers" i.e.

the "Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana (MKSP)", was initiated by Prof. M.S.

Swaminathan for the widows of farmers who had committed suicide, in Wardha

and Yavatmal districts of Vidarbha region, in 2007. The programme aims at

creating an environment of hope that will help alleviate the mood of distress and

empower women farmers to make key decisions pertaining to their agricultural

practices and their households.

The empowerment measures cover a wide range of areas related to: enhancing

the productivity, profitability and sustainability of small-scale rain-fed farming;

promoting household food security; strengthening institutions at the grassroots;

and creating awareness on rights and entitlements. There are various NGOS who

work towards sustainable Agriculture, which can be a model and can be used

effectively as a convergence tool.



2. SESSION-2

a. Experience of the participants

The women farmers present at the meeting were indescribable. They narrated

their experiences flawlessly. They addressed the problems they face during their

course of action. They tried to share and amalgamate their experience and

suggestions, and to find out the solution out of this.

In spite of various problems, the women were very satisfied with their

achievements. Some women started it single handed which inspired other women

to go for the process. The major problem lies in taking people to confidence. The

adoption process is very slow. Still the process is going on and women are slowly

adopting agriculture. Women of all area have gained success in using the organic

method in agriculture. The use of organic methods in agriculture provides them

fresh vegetables for a healthy life. The concept of kitchen garden has gained a

new turn with increasing level of participation by women in the field of agriculture,

thus solving their nutritional security needs.

Women use local resources such as cow dung and household waste to make bio

fertilizers. Agriculture in organic method, which seemed to be a very difficult task is

proving to be a reality with the confidence, hard work, sincerity of these women

farmers.

Women farmers cited some problems like lack of support at their home, shortage

of water, time management with home and work, lack of stamina, difficulty in

collection of material for organic fertilizer, non- availability of seeds on proper time,

hilly land etc. Maximum women face the problems of back pain during the sapling

stage. In case of pregnant women, this process becomes all the more strainful..

There should be training on capacity building and some implements for drudgery

reduction should also be encouraged.



Despite of all the problems, women were very proud to be a part of the process

which provides them financial and psychological security and above all it gave

them their identification as Mahila Kisans.

After the experience sharing of the women farmers, the PIA (Project Implementing

Agencies) presented issues related to their work.

Working in remote areas, credit accessibility, climate change, availability of funds

in time, health problems of women farmers, lack of convergence are the major

problems cited by the PIA members. They suggested a discussion by the

Government on this. Crop planting, popularization of organic products, plantation,

promotion of kitchen garden, disease control and technical protocol training, crop

intensification model, integrated pest management system with organic products,

increase agriculture with local resources etc are some of the best practices

described by the PIA members.

Some of the issues/suggestions as mentioned by the PIAs are as summarized

below

Timely approval of the decisions made and timely release of funds .With

untimely release of funds, the crop planning takes a set-back

Frequent interaction at the district level, with PD/Collectors for increasing

awareness of the MKSP program

Special attention to the health factor

Convergence with other line departments



They requested the authority to get into the issues and find some solutions to it. To

which Sh, Das and Sh, Behera responded that appropriate action would be taken

for the needful. Mr. Debraj also viewed that our extension is weak for proper

implementation of the programs and this needs to be strengthened.

3. SESSION-3

Dr. Joan Mencher started her valuable speech with praise for Tamil Nadu and

Andhra Pradesh who really do tremendous job in the field of agriculture. She also

cited the example of Kerala and Tamil Nadu which run Farmers Training Schools.

In her words, it is a very difficult task to change the mindset or psychology of

people, but it is seen that women are more interested to learn than men. Her

valuable suggestions included:-

1. Planting more trees:- In an age, when temperature is reaching its highest,

we need to plant trees to save society. Climate can make a big difference in


Quotes from Women Farmers:

“When I wanted to start, my father did not agree with me that we can get more benefits

with less investment in SRI method. I started with I acre of land. I got one quintal in ½

acre.” – Mahila Kisan from Malkangiri district

“People first denied adopting organic agriculture practices. I started by myself with mung

dal and chakunda seeds. Seeing my results, people started to understand and accept

gradually. My area is one of the hilliest area. So, we face the problem of lack of water

and soil conservation”. –Mahila Kisan from Koraput

Quotes from Partner Agencies

“Major challenge in working with the people in remote areas is that do not accept

technology easily. Climate change, erratic rainfall in Odisha is another major external

factor which affect crops and farmers morale. Phailin and Hud Hud have been

devastating in their own ways. Proper weather forecasting and meteorological data is the

need of the hour.”


agriculture. In Sahara, People plan to conserve tress. When we plant a tree,

there is some water under the tree. This way, we can conserve water and

trees also.

2. Farmers field school: - There should be farmers field school in each area

to train the farmers and fulfil their queries.

3. Potato Eyes Planting:- Listening to the problem of non-availability of seeds

on time, she suggested for potato eyes planting, so that there will be no

dependency on Government for seeds.

4. Women agricultural officer: - There should be more number of women

agricultural officers. It would be easy for the women farmers to interact with

them. We have to increase the number of women in agriculture.

5. Encourage educated women for agriculture:- It will mobilize agriculture if

educated girls will be involved in it and they can mobilize other women

6. Women earnings spent on quality of life:- Dr. Joan made a study in

Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal and found that the income of women has

more impact on the family than the income of the man. Women emphasize

on health, nutrition and education etc. so, it is definitely increasing the

quality of life of the family members.

7. High nutrition for women:- Women should get higher nutritional value food

, so that they can go out for work. Generally, women are more anaemic and

keeping good health is one of the most important aspect.

While answering the questions like why SRI is successful in some areas and not

working in others and the solution to the problems women are facing while farming.

Answering the first question Dr. Joan presented the example of U.S where parents

prefer to give the land to their daughters as they will take care of them and their

land also but, in Kerala, even if the land is in the name of the woman, but the

power lies in the hands of male member of the family. If women will have right

over the land, agriculture in India will also develop.



Answering the second question of women facing difficulties, she suggested

good and nutritious food is necessary for leading a healthy life. The women

farmers have control over their income. This satisfaction motivates them to go for

farming and, they should stop negligence to their health.

4. SESSION-4

P.K. MOHANTY, LIVELIHOODS EXPERT, OTELP ODISHA, presented his paper

on Empowering Women in Agriculture under OTELP program. He presented the

following interventions of OTELP.

Allocation of land for women.

Provide safe drinking water to every household.

To attract women to agriculture.

Address the issues of seeds conservation, communication and education

problem.

Develop commercial vegetable cultivation.

By 2016, it targets to provide safe drinking water in 50% villages. There will be poly

green home which will make the marketing easy. It stresses more on sweet potato

which is good for iron deficiency and on turmeric also which has an international

market.

a. Interventions for Women in Agriculture & Allied Livelihood Sector

Livestock & Aquaculture

Support for Mother Chick Unit

Support for Backward poultry

Support for Individual poultry unit.

Support for Goatery

Promotion of Pisciculture

Grant of Land Titles

Rural Financial Services for Micro Enterprise Activities.

Capacity Building through Training & Exposure Visit



Establishment of Women Co-

operative: 1)Swarnajyoti Women’s

Poultry Co-operative Federation

Ltd. (SWPCFL), 2) Kandhamal

Poultry Development Co-operative

Ltd.(KPDCL)

OTELP has been rewarded by

IFAD as one of the best performing

donor funded projects in one of

India’s most difficult state.

Dr. Hemant Kumar Dash, Senior Scientist, Agricultural

Economics, Directorate of Research on women in

Agriculture (DRWA), started with great appreciation for

the women participants in the workshop. He

congratulated all the participants for utilizing the

platform in the best way possible. The Mahila Kisans

presented their experiences and problems with great

confidence and women empowerment can be seen

easily in this forum. Women empowerment in practice

indicates towards social empowerment. Public

speaking is being increased through organizing this type of workshop. Village level

programs should be organized which should be approached from bottom to top.

Gender issue was cited as a problem of recognition. Presentation is necessary for

recognition, for which it is necessary to increase the confidence level of women.

Doubt and resistance are the road blocks one shall face but lastly it is our power of

persistence which will motivate the women to go onwards.

Prof Radha Mohan started his gracious speech with a popular proverb “A Prophet

is not honoured in his own country”, which means women have never been



identified as capable as man. But, now, women are fighting for their own dignity.

He congratulated all the participants for being a part of this noble scheme. He also

suggested to develop some unique methods, so that women do not have to

depend on men for work in agriculture.

After this valuable speech, Ms. Rajashree Purohit of Catholic Relief Services, presented her viewpoint regarding the issue. CRS is working in more than 100

countries in world. In Odisha, it is it is working in disaster management and

rehabilitation field. Ms Rajashree shared her experience of working with women in

Kaniah of Puri District in 112 villages. Women of this area had a soft corner for

kitchen garden. So, they focused on it and taught them developed technologies.

With this, a Farmer Field School was opened and women have slowly started to

adopt adopting agriculture too. But, the question is, are we making the women fully

empowered in agriculture? Are women the real decision makers regarding seeds,

markets etc. She suggested the following to face this challenge:-

Women should be involved in decision making

The Kisan cards should be in the name of the women. This will provide

identification to a Mahila Kisan.

Land possession should be in the hand of the women who is cultivating.

She concluded by requesting the policy makers to integrate the above

things.

Mr. Basant Ku.Panigrahi, Program Officer, IGSSS said that there should be

focus on the land-less ladies. Small farmers and land-less people are more

affected by the climate change. Stress should be on vegetable cultivation like

Drum Stick, Papaya etc. which are healthy.

Mr. Franklin described the workshop as a rare event, because everybody is

getting a chance to speak here. It is a platform of sharing of experiences. We need

to listen to each other to solve a problem. He ended with thanking everybody.

Prof Shambhu Prasad, XIMB started with congratulating OLM, ORMAS for

organizing the workshop. He stated that by organizing such workshops, OLM is

more open to the issues of farmers than the Dept of agriculture. The stress should



be on the ability of farmers, not on the no of decimal or the landholding of the

farmers. The focus of our discussion should be on the achievement and

participation of women, not on mere production. It is very important to discuss

experience of field people. These things should be documented form which will

definitely encourage other researchers and practitioners. This is a good sign that

women farmers of Odisha have been given a platform to speak and discuss their

issues be it relating to health, farm implements, experiences in SRI etc.

5. SESSION-5

After this valuable speech, a memento was presented to Dr. Joan by Prof. Radha

Mohan. She received this as a token of love by ORMAS.

With this, the event came to an end with presentation of highlights of the day by

Mr. Debaraj.

Work is going on in the field of agriculture and Training/handholding is

necessary.

Evaluation should be made on how much income is coming to the

households with such interventions

He concluded with a hope to see this revolution a successful one.

The workshop was ended with a vote of thanks given by Mr Prasant Kumar

Dash, Project Manager (Livelihoods) ORMAS.


Documents

Women in Agriculture-Emerging Challenges and …€¦ · Web viewWomen in Agriculture-Emerging Challenges and Opportunities Odisha Livelihoods MissionPage 8 SIRDPage 0 Odisha Livelihoods