When it comes to farming and production, the use of gender friendly equipment is essential for the following reasons:
- Women’s eligibility to receive technology and credit is questioned on the ground that they are not asset holders and do not have the status of a producer. Furthermore the existing loaning procedures are very cumbersome and prohibitive for women. In a nutshell, women have access neither to agricultural information and services nor to production assets
- Though their work is equally essential for smooth functioning of the economy, the contributions made by women to the farm sector are not duly acknowledged
- In spite of the pivotal role played by women in farming, rural women are not aware of the modern technologies suited to farm production or information are not available on these technologies. The adoption of appropriate equipment will reduce drudgery, increase productivity and generate additional income and employment
- If farm women’s issues are tackled properly, food and nutritional security for landless labourers will be ensured. Availability of women friendly cost effective implements will ease out the drudgery of farm women
- Rural women’s access to agricultural extension services worldwide is only about 1/20th of that of men, and technology is rarely designed specifically to address the women’s needs (Food and Agriculture Organization, Report, 2006)
- Due to the multiple role of farm women extent of illiteracy, socio-cultural barriers, the access of farm women to extension/information is limited. Therefore it is required to design gender sensitive extension approaches
Extracted from AgriGold Swarna Sedyam
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