Business of Agriculture March April 2019 Edition | Page 8

Linking Women to Agricultural Value Chains:
When they are linked to value chains from production
to all the way to processing and marketing they can
help in making traditional farming more productive
as well as commercially viable.
Improved Access to Training and Information:
A lot of women farmers don’t have access to training
and information. They lack awareness, which is one
of the many reasons for their lack of access to farming
or agriculture. So, it is important that training and
technologies are accessible and adaptable as per the
need and constraints of rural women.
Women’s
paid and
unpaid work
contribution
on the farm
or off the
farm should
be recorded
in national
accounts. This
will create
accountability
Access to Education, Training and Extension
Services: Two thirds of the one billion illiterates in
the world are women and girls. If these numbers can
be decreased and women are given opportunities to
get themselves employed with the help of training and
information then women farmers can also flourish.
Various efforts are being done from the government
side and many social groups are working on the gender
gap issues to ensure the participation of women
in agricultural development programmes. These
programmes have the composite package of training,
extension, inputs, managerial and entrepreneurial
support such as: “On-field demonstration”; “Mahila-
Goshties”; and “Study-Tour”.
Other than the above-mentioned options/suggested
solutions, there are some administrative reforms that
the government needs to introduce in the country.
They are mentioned below:
• Women’s paid and unpaid work contribution on the
farm or off the farm should be recorded in national
accounts. This will create accountability. The
respect that work requires will be generated. Once
their contribution will be quantified, the attitudes
towards women agriculturist’s contribution will
also change.
• In order to bring a sustainable change and to make
India progressive it is very important to make
rural India progressive, which is considered as the
agriculture backbone. To achieve this, the latest
technologies should be made available to women
in rural areas. With the use of those technologies,
8 Business of Agriculture | March-April 2019 • Vol. V • Issue 2
they ensure that how efficiently they can use the
locally available materials.
• Equal pay at work, improved working condition,
and legal standards should be constituted for
women.
• Promoting the number of female extension
functionaries and agricultural researchers. There
are many fields like agricultural analysts, soil
engineering, supply chain management, agricultural
scientists and more that may encourage females to
embrace technology to create value in the farming
sector.
It’s Time to Bring Change
In today’s digital age, women are more empowered
and thriving in many areas. Now is the time when
women who want to do something revolutionary
in the agricultural field should also be given equal
opportunities. All the women who are already in the
position to help other women around them should
offer a hand and help them grow as well. Because
those who have been informed have made a drastic
change in the way things were in the agricultural
sector. Many female farmers have been recognised as
great entrepreneurs because of their amazing ideas
and adaptations. They have been doing farming, cross-
breeding, export, disease management and many such
great things for their families and farming. The launch
of Krishi Vigyan Kendra by the government of India has
initiated the campaign that has played a significant role
in empowering women farmers and shifting existing,
biased perceptions of women’s roles in agriculture. If
we want to bring a Second Green Revolution in India,
it is very important that we need to focus on our
country’s women farmers. To make this happen we
need to incorporate inclusion at every level in order
to make India progressive.
*Malini Saba, Founder, Saba Family Foundations and
Saba Industries, is a self-made businesswoman as well
as an Asia’s emerging philanthropist. Her Venture
Saba Industries is a group of commodities company
that she founded in Asia. In 2002, Ms Saba launched
The Saba Family Foundation to serve as the umbrella
organisation for all of her philanthropic works. The
foundation’s three areas of focus are healthcare,
education and human rights.