Session VI
Gender and Agricultural Trade Liberalisation
The Session was chaired by Mrs. Aasha Kapur Mehta from the Indian Institute of Public Administration. Dr. Mariama Williams presented an overview of the gender impact of particular aspects of trade reform measures viz. import liberalization, market access, export promotion and labour rights. These measures have a differential impact on men and women and women bear more of the social brunt of these processes. The three pillars of Agreement on Agriculture are
- Market access
- Export subsidy and
- Doha Development Agenda.
1. She presented a sectoral overview of the Agreement on Agriculture and the need for gender sensitive special products to be given special safeguard measures under the Doha Development Agenda. She enumerated the challenges and constrains for gender analysis in the agricultural liberalization process under the following heads:-
- Reduction of domestic support
- Price support for inputs
- Reduction of tariffs
- SPS and TBT
- Reduction in government services…STEs
- Extension services
- Food Security
- Special Products
2. She further quoted the case study of India and Sri Lanka in spices producers / workers in the sector. Most of the agricultural workers in this sector are rural women with low education. While agricultural liberalization was expected to have a positive impact on spice producers/workers in Sri Lanka, in reality it turned out that Sri Lanka had to decrease its own tariff and suffered loss of employment due to subsidized imports from Indonesia. In India, 84% of the total female workforce in rural areas is employed in agricultural sector and the agricultural liberalization resulted in decrease in the number of small farmers and increase in the number of agricultural male workers moving out. This in turn resulted an increase of women as casual agricultural workers. The overall effect at the micro level was rising employment of women in agriculture sector while men moved on to secondary and tertiary sectors and non-farm activities.
3. Mrs. Anjali Prasad, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, India presented the conceptual aspects of how agriculture trade liberalization will impact on women. She underlined the fact that agriculture has so far been a highly protected sector in India and therefore the impact trade liberalization on agriculture has been limited. She presented the gender profile of Indian agriculture, where women perform an extensive role in all areas, viz. crop production, livestock, forestry, fisheries and agro and rural industries. She stated that the women working in the agriculture sector hold dual responsibility and is vulnerable due to low literacy, education and health care.
4. Women agricultural labour also face the disadvantage of differential wage structure i.e. women get paid less than men. Other disadvantages faced by women are agriculture implements are not gender friendly, title hold of farm lands are with men and the decision making position power is still vested with the men. Agriculture marketing is another area where women are exploited. Adverse impact of agricultural trade liberalization in all aspects viz. food security, decrease in household income, displacement of labour etc. hit women more than men because it is always women who finally bear the brunt both in women headed units/sectors/activities and male centric situations.
5. The possible gender differential impact of trade liberalization on agriculture depends on
- Pattern of rights in productive resources
- Educational/skill levels
- Labour market discrimination and
- Socio-cultural environment. The impacts could be short term and long term.The Short term impact depends on
- Where women located in the process of production and
- Ability to reallocate resources & adjust & relocate the process of production.
- The Longer term impact would depend on changes in
- The educational/skill status
- The sectoral employment pattern
- Gender division of labour and
- Market discrimination.
6. Some other issues/case discussed in the session are the following:
- Cases of cotton farmer’s suicide in India following global glut in production resulting from subsidies for cotton growers by US and other countries. The issue involved is not profit and higher returns but livelihood and survival of millions of small farmers.
- The smaller plantations have been unable to break even and have either closed down or sold their land, resulting in unemployment/increased workload/lower wages for women.
