Women
workers and agriculture
José Gómez Cerda . FELTRA
The
role of women workers in the rural world is crucial. Rural women workers are
responsible for half of the world’s food production. In third world countries,
they produce between 60% and 80% of food output.
According
to the FAO, women farm workers are mainly responsible for the production of
staple foods, such as rice, wheat, and corn, which represent 90% of the food
consumption among poor people living in rural areas.
In
spite of the existence of the ILO Convention n° 110, which establishes salary
equality between men and women, the latter almost always receive wages inferior
to those of men. In most countries, this convention is infringed. Minimum wage
rates in the agricultural sector are different between men and women who perform
the same tasks. Wages for women are always lower.
Farm
women workers sow, apply fertilizers and pesticides, recollect and thresh. They
also work on secondary crops, like legumes and vegetables.
The
knowledge women have on the genetic resources applied to agriculture make them
special guardians of biological diversity.
In
the livestock sector, women feed and milk large animals, raise fowl and other
small animals like sheep, goats, rabbits, and guinea pigs.
Once
the harvest is done, women also participate in storage, manipulation,
elaboration and trading.
Although
women farm workers are evermore important in agriculture, they remain an
unprivileged minority. Due to military conflicts, male migration to urban areas
in search of jobs, and increasing mortality caused by AIDS, the number of
families led by women is growing in developing countries.
Despite
the fact that women are significant producers and suppliers of food, they are
considered as “invisible” associates. Women possess valuable knowledge
regarding the importance of genetic resources and its use in agriculture and
food.
In
the sub–Saharan Africa, women cultivate up to 120 different vegetable species
within open spaces right next to commercial crops planted by men.
In
the Andean regions of Colombia, Bolivia and Peru, women keep seed stockpiles in
order to guarantee food production.
In
Rwanda, women are the main producers of beans, also known as “the meat” of
the rural areas. Beans supply a fourth of the calories consumed by the
population and half its protein intake.
A
phenomenon known as the “feminization of agriculture” is becoming a trend in
many areas of the world. The role of women in agriculture is becoming more
crucial, as men keep leaving this economic sector.
For
example, in Africa, male population in rural areas is descending rapidly,
whereas female population remains relatively steady. In Malawi, rural male
population decreased 21.8% between 1970 and 1990. During that same period,
female population only declined 5.4%.
According
to several studies, women who are the head of their families are usually younger
and less educated than their male counterparts. Often, women have less farmland,
financial resources and additional labor force to harvest.
Due
to the lack of labor force and capital, female heads of families are forced to
modify their harvesting systems. These adjustments have caused the reduction of
agricultural output and, in some cases, the adoption of less nutritional crop
varieties. Therefore, it is no surprise to find these families undernourished
and more food insecure than other families.
In
most developing countries, farmers in general do not have access to adequate
resources. Women, however, have even less access than men, due to traditional
sociological and cultural factors.
Many
female unionists have lost their lives because of their union activities.
Lidia
Madariaga, who belonged to the Nicaraguan
Autonomous Trade Union Movement (Movimiento
Sindical Autónomo de Nicaragua - MOSAN), from
the administrative district of Leon, in Nicaragua, was murdered on April 22,
1966.
Florinda
Soriano Muñoz, a union leader also known as Mamá Tingó, was assassinated on
November 1, 1974, in Gualey, Dominican Republic for defending her freedom of
association.
José Gómez Cerda