OneWorld.net (U.S.)

More than 24 million rural Indians still live below the hunger line as defined by the availability of two square meals a day throughout the year (NSS 55th Round, 1999-00. While chronic food insecurity has been sharply curtailed, seasonal food shortages are common and trend to persist for several months at a time in most parts of the country. The rural areas of the country are undoubtedly disadvantaged in their access to food, the level of food insecurity is not uniform. The most disadvantaged groups-the marginal farmer and the landless labourer, the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes and the especially vulnerable among these, i.e., the women and women headed households, the old and infirm and those unable to work are the most under nourished.

The role of women as producers and providers of food is often overshadowed by their role as care givers. However, in most of the developing countries, including India, large numbers of women are engaged in agriculture- primarily in the production and processing of food. With male-selective migration from rural areas on the increase, women are often left behind to take care of both family and farm on their own. With women headed households financial, technical and other support services being denied, the poor nutritional status of the rural population should not evoke surprise.

According to the 2001 census, 27.5 percent of cultivators in the rural areas are female, while in the case of agricultural labour, as much as 46.9 percent are women. Of the rural workforce, an overwhelmingly large proportion, i.e., 80% are employed in the agriculture sector. About 36.5% (40.6 million) work as cultivators on their own/family landholding, while about 43.4 percent (48.4 million) are engaged as hired agricultural labour. It is, therefore, obvious that women play no small role in food production. In other words we can say that mode of female participation in agricultural production varies with the land owning status to farm household. Women role range from managers to landless labourers.

The impact of WTO rules and policies of trade liberalization in the agriculture sector on women is distinctive for four reasons:

Firstly, women have been the primary seed keepers, processors. The Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) agreement impacts women’s knowledge and control over seeds. The Agreement on Agriculture impacts women’s livelihood and income security, and also has secondary impacts in terms of increased violence against women. The present form of WTO agreement directly has a impact on women’s expertise and economic role in agro processing.

Secondly, women carry the heavier work burden in food production, and because of gender discrimination get lower returns for their work. When rural livelihood destroys, it is women who lose the most. When WTO rules allow dumping which leads to decline in prices of farm products, it is women with already low income, which go down further.

Thirdly, as globalization shifts agriculture to capital intensive, chemical intensive system, women bear disproportionate costs of both displacement and health hazards.

Fourthly, their position vis-a vis WTO is also more vulnerable because as the livelihood and incomes of farmers in general, and women agriculturists in particular, are eroded, they are displaced from productive roles, and their status is further devalued, while the patriarchal power of those who control assets and benefit from asset transfer due to globalization is increased and other social processes are triggered which result in increased violence against women.

Over the period 1994-2005, the drive for market liberalization and globalization has severely imposed on the rural household economies. The traditional mode of agricultural practice has been destroyed. The government allocations on the agriculture sector constantly register a decline. The recent economic system giving a free hand to MNCs in agriculture sector has further caused a rapid shrinkage of the traditional practices and replacement of folk crop varieties with high yielding and hybrid varieties, which escalated the cost of agricultural production while stagnating productivity.

In the last few years the plantation sector too has been at the receiving end. The unrestricted import and the sharp fall in the international price have negatively impacted price of tea, coffee, rubber and palm oil. The price of Coffee dropped from their highs and the producers had to take massive cut in their profit. In coffee plantation, the average working day of the labour largely of women, has shrunk by 30% affecting their survival.

Post liberalization, development in India has shown a very interesting picture. After the economic liberalization the service sector and manufacturing sector register a positive growth rate; at the same time employment opportunities have increased in these two sectors. These two sector attract a lower percentage of the population but they are the beneficiaries of trade liberalization in terms of income and employment opportunities. The agriculture sector used to be backbone of the India economy due to its contribution in the GDP. Around 75% of the India’s population is dependent, on the agriculture. Last ten years of development in the agriculture sector in India, show that the lower government investment in agriculture and market driven system has adversely affected the livelihood of rural India. Researchers and academicians analyze the situation and suggested that in India majority of the farmer come under the category of small and medium farmers and are solely depend on the local market rather than international market. The prices of their product are determined by local variables rather than international markets. So the trade liberalization may led to adverse impact on the Indian agriculture sector and women may suffer a lot. So in the Hong-Kong ministerial meeting they policy makers must consider this.

Dr Nilay Ranjan Knowledge Coordinator Oneworld south asia