Despite having an integral role in the agricultural sector, female farm workers are hardly acknowledged for their contribution. This week You! takes a look at a study that highlights their plight and its possible solutions...
Despite having an integral role in the agricultural sector, female farm workers are hardly acknowledged for their contribution. This week You! takes a look at a study that highlights their plight and its possible solutions...
According to Labour Force Survey of Pakistan 2014-2015, the agricultural sector of the country absorbs 72.7 per cent of the total female employment compared to 33.1 per cent of male employment. Despite having an integral role in the output and growth of this sector, female farm workers are hardly acknowledged for their contribution. Moreover, it is largely assumed that it is the women’s duty to support the men in the fields so they shouldn’t expect wages. Due to this very reason, the remuneration, if any paid, for women farmers’ work goes mostly in the pocket of their male family members who decide where to spend it. Furthermore, it is a pity that women do most of the manual work, get exposed to risks involved in handling of chemicals and pesticides, face vulnerabilities to hazards like snakebites in fields, lose opportunities to study due to such engagements and suffer from over-exertion. Apart from working in the fields for long hours, they have to look after their households, cook food, rear children, provide support to the early and do other daily chores.
Against this backdrop, it is imperative to carry out an assessment of the situation on ground, discuss it threadbare, identify venues for improvement and come up with suggestions and recommendations. The need for this has always been there but a comprehensive exercise in this respect could not be carried out due to various reasons including lack of resources, skills and capacity and a general disregard for gender disparity.
However, a recent study, published on October 30, 2018, was carried out to understand the issues faced by female farm workers in our country and exploring the venues for improvement. The study ‘Participatory Policy Assessment: Socio-economic Rights of Women Working in Agriculture in Punjab’ is based on field visits, survey, interviews of farm workers, focused group discussions with stakeholders, consultations with relevant departments and worker bodies. The study on socio-economic rights of women working in agriculture in Punjab, Pakistan, was designed and carried out by the Aurat Publication and Information Service Foundation (Aurat Foundation) in the context of the EU-funded project ‘INSPIRED+ Pakistan’, supported by the European Partnership for Democracy (EPD). The EPD is an independent European non-profit organisation supporting the development of democracy outside the European Union (EU). There were other partners like Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy (NIMD) and World Leadership Alliance - Club de Madrid (WLA-CdM) as well. Though it is a sectoral study focusing on one province, it identifies the plight of women agricultural workers’ in other parts of the country as well. In light of this study, You! talks to some of the stakeholders in order to highlight the issues faced by these women how to tackle them in the near future...
“It is no secret that women are still ignored in development process and their concerns about equal remuneration. The situation is worse for agrarian workers, especially women, whose rights are not protected in the labour policies,” tells Mumtaz Mughal, Regional Director, Aurat Foundation. “The main aim was to bring this discussion in the mainstream and demand corrective action that a situational analysis, which was necessary. The scope of the study was quite large because availability of data was a critical issue and the labour and agriculture departments did not have any gender disaggregated data with them. As the absence of gender specific targets and indicators compromise protection of socio-economic rights of women working in the agriculture sector, this study was a pre-requisite,” she adds.
Sara Sheraz, one of the lead managers of the study, highlights, “This study has strong acceptability because it has not been done in isolation. Instead, it has been compiled after seeking input from parliamentarians, policy makers, government officials, women working in the agriculture sector, civil society organisations, trade unions, media, and individual experts and beneficiaries. Besides, an interview schedule with wide-ranging questionnaire was prepared in English and then translated into Urdu. It consisted of five major themes including employment and wages, economic agency, social protection, working conditions, and unionisation. There were both, close and open-ended, questions added in the tool shared with the farm workers so that both quantitative and qualitative data could be gathered.”
The ownership of land among women farmers is very low. Only 17 per cent of the respondent women have ownership of land, and mostly 64.71 per cent inherited it. Amongst landholder women, not even a single woman own more than 50 acres. The Punjab Women Empowerment Policy and Women Empowerment Package - initiatives taken by the Punjab government - do not catalogue agrarian women’s rights; and around 68 per cent of the agrarian women are illiterate.
Furthermore, 79.4 per cent of the respondent women fell into agriculture as occupation but only out of compulsion, not choice. 99 per cent women have no written land lease agreements, while only one per cent has formal written agreements. 77 per cent of agrarian women did not know about micro-credit organisation and institutions. In addition, 81 per cent agrarian women workers could not get loans due to lack of information, complicated procedures and lengthy documentations. 64 per cent of them have restricted mobility and little or no involvement in the sale and purchase of agricultural products. It was alarming to note that about 68 per cent agrarian women workers would continue with their work during pregnancy.
Amid this scenario, these women also deal with harassment at workplace. Over 80 per cent of the women complained about it. The responses suggested that about 41 per cent were harassed through passing sexual comments, 11 per cent by whistling, 21 per cent faced actual sexual assault, a violent physical attack and stalking or blocking their paths, 15 per cent faced harassment by having their photos taken by strange men without their consent, character assassination and luring them on pretext of help, six per cent faced touching, four per cent were shown obscene gestures while two per cent always remained in fear of kidnapping.
To ease the troubles of these women, Naseem Chaudhry, a top-level office-bearer of Pakistan Workers’ Federation (PWF), suggests, “The condition of women farm workers in Punjab cannot be improved without giving them the right of unionisation. Women in the agriculture sector have formed unions in Sindh so this can happen in Punjab too. Besides, there shall be an option to form cooperatives in this sector. This way, the women farmers who do not have enough resources can benefit from the collective assets like agricultural machinery owned collectively by the cooperative in their area. I call for inclusion of women farmers in the local government system, starting up from the union council level, so that they can properly watch the interests of women farmers.”
In light of these findings, the study endorses some important recommendations. The applicability of Minimum Wages (for Unskilled Workers) Ordinance, 1969 should be extended to the agriculture sector through a notification by the government. Measures shall be taken to regulate the working hours and working conditions of the workers engaged in the agriculture sector. Social protection of women working in agriculture activities can be ensured through their registration with Punjab Social Protection Authority and gradually they should be covered under the Punjab Employees Social Security Institution (PESSI) and Employees Old-Age Benefits Institution (EOBI).
Maternity benefits should also be extended to the landless workers in agriculture through amendments in the existing legislation. Agriculture and labour departments must establish ‘Skill Development Centre’ at the village level where farmers, particularly women can get information on how to increase their yields/productivity. The women must get equal access to loans and credits and linked directly with the market to get good price for the products they produce.
Fauzia Viqar, Chairperson, Punjab Commission on the Status of Women (PCSW), appreciates the efforts done for the benefit of the agrarian women in the province. “There are several instances where the commission has helped women in rural areas take possession of their lands. We are always here to provide support where it is needed. The 100-day agenda of the sitting government also prioritises measures to bring women workers, especially those working in the informal sectors like agriculture, into the mainstream,” she concludes.
